Golden Touch
by Juliet'sReplacement
Summary: Sometimes the best way to a romance is through friendship first. Hot guys make you drool. Cute guys make you blush. Cool guys make you daydream. But friends can make you fall in love without even knowing it. T for occasional cursing and blood and gore. Rolith x OC.
1. Chapter 1

"_Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"  
LM Montgomery_

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The silver, sharpened tip of my longsword slid down into the ground. With a heavy sigh, I sank to my knees, and from there to a regular sitting position on the vibrant green grass. I folded my legs under me in just the right way to be comfortable in this armor. I had to watch my footing around this ledge; one slip-up, and you'd be toppling down from the outcropping before you could even scream, and no sword or knowledge of fighting would help you.

Not that I would, I mean. Screaming completely destroys any credibility you have of being tough, particularly for a Warrior like me, but _especially_ if you scream about something that isn't worth screaming about. Yelling is different, though. Yelling is more aggressive, and it's just more… well, _less_ embarrassing, I guess.

"Wow, what an internal debate," I mused. "That could almost start a war—the difference between yelling and screaming."I closed my eyes, tilting my head back. Blonde bangs slipped back off my forehead as I did. _Whichever is better… this is nice. _I opened my eyes again, looking down at my feet with distaste, noticing just how tiny they appeared from this vantage point. They were sore… _really_ sore. Not just that sort of sore you get from standing around all day, or just working all day. The kind of sore you get when you've been walking from dawn until dusk for the past week or so.

"You traitors_,"_ I muttered glumly. "You're part of me, you're supposed to work _with_ me, not against me!"

Whatever reply my feet (as interesting as they were) might have made then was instantly drowned out by a sort of bellowing roar that sounded from behind me. I may not have had a warrior's instincts just yet, but I was getting there. Hey, that's better than nothing, right? Six years of training with a sword had its perks. I whirled around, only tugging my sword from the ground once I was on my feet once more. In a practiced move that I had done probably thousands of times, the tip of the blade came up and I pivoted on my left foot, placing my right foot further forward. Both hands on the handle, and I was ready to fight.

Just… maybe not something quite so _big_.

I currently faced a Gorillaphant, and it was… well, a lot taller than the other monsters I'd grown accustomed to fighting. _I'm used to fighting Seed Spitters and Sneevils_, I thought with shock. _Not… _these _things!_ Beady yellow eyes glared at me, and they seemed… well, 'stupid' didn't seem like the right term… but the overall meaning was what did come to mind. Then I decided that, like most of the other mid-occupying things in a battle, it really didn't matter right now. I scowled at the huge gray creature.

"Are you challenging me?" I asked in a murmur, studying it intently through gleaming slate-gray eyes. I frequently gave a monster that I had stumbled across or vice-versa a chance to back down before fighting it. Half of the time, they were just animals that had accidentally stumbled into adventurers, and really wanted nothing to do with them. But the adventurer typically chose to fight, and so battle began.

But I digress.

The Gorillaphant bellowed in defiance, and I smiled. My new opponent had thrown the gauntlet. Just because I give my would-be adversaries a chance to retreat doesn't mean that I don't _like_ to fight. I love the adrenaline rush that it brings, and the complete absence of thought that comes with it. It's just action, reaction. It's live or die. It brings out a primal side to us that is rarely seen, and I love it. Absence of propriety is natural, and to be natural is to be beauty.

With a battle cry that rivaled the Gorillaphant's for volume and sent birds fleeing from the trees, I charged, faltering for a fraction of a second on that last step to give my sword time to come around. My blade did not slice easily through flesh—any steel thin enough to be that razor sharp wouldn't last seconds in a real fight. No, mine was thick and edged. It dealt out damage as any sword ought to—three parts sharp, and one part weight and power. A good portion of that last part was how well the handler could swing that sword. Fortunately, I had been trained.

I opened a gash in one of the Gorillaphant's massive forearms that had risen as it attempted to defend itself. It was a long slash, and wide, but it wasn't deep. It did no serious damage, but with any luck, it would have given the monster a chance to think twice about confronting me. However, no such luck. The animal's eyes shone with a mad fury, and it threw its head around. One of its long, curved tusks caught me around the middle, sending me flying.

_Knew I should have gotten out of the blast range,_ I thought cheerfully as I twisted in midair before sailing behind some bushes. Thin branches whipped viciously against my face as I turned. _I'll probably just get a cracked rib or three out of this._ I skidded to a stop on my knees (I feared the scratches that might permanently be on my armor from this), and went charging back into the fray. I jumped as high as I could, turning my sword in my hands so the point faced down as I went, and planted the soles of my feet on the Gorillaphant's back, allowing weight to carry my blade cleanly into the space within the thick, tangled gray fur that lay between my feet.

The momentum of my leap—combined with the impact of the blade running through more than one internal organ—forced my opponent to the ground, face-first. All was still for a minute while I caught my breath, and I withdrew my sword from the back of the Gorillaphant. I inspected the blade with satisfaction. _You've continued to serve me well, my friend,_ I contemplated with a smile. Blood that had a greenish-silver cast to it coated the pale metal.

Contrary to popular belief, most monsters (the ones that were flesh and blood, at least) actually bled green.

I stepped just a little unsteadily off of my now-dead challenger. Now that the adrenaline rush was fading, I felt just a bit empty. A slight tickling sensation made itself known on my cheek, and with a sense of growing apprehension, I swiped at it with the back of my armor-covered hand. It came back with a thin smear of red.

"Oh…" I exhaled as I dropped to a sitting position, and far less gracefully than I had only minutes ago. My blood… not a good thing. My vision began to swim, and colors began to blur together. Except for that heinous red… that dark scarlet color that made my stomach churn and threaten to reject my breakfast from earlier that day.

_Hemophobia,_ I thought with what could only be described as irritation through a quickly clouding mind. _But only with my own blood… unheard of, especially among Warriors…_

A faint shouting reached my ears. It was a discordant and jumbled sort of noise, but it was the sound of men… Men, not monsters. And while that made me feel slightly better about the whole situation, the up-and-coming feeling of me passing out did not. The yells seemed to carry a note of urgency in them.

_Yells, not screams,_ I thought smugly. _I was right… they _are _different…_

With that final thought, the sky and the ground swapped places for the last time, and then quickly faded to black from there.

* * *

A pair of hazel eyes flashed across my vision. Then there were three pairs of eyes, and then two heads ringed by blonde hair. Six arms, a sparkly pewter color, and a huge hammer that might not even have been there… Well, bang goes reality. I didn't even try to keep my mind lucid, not now. Sinking back into the darkness was too easy… In the back of my mind, I knew that I was floating between the waking world and my own personal unconsciousness.

At the moment, I much preferred the latter.

There was still the little voice in the back of my head that was, more or less, a running commentary on what was going on around me. It wasn't so much a voice as it was just me registering my surroundings while still, as I liked to say, 'out of it.' It was a much more preferable term to 'knocked out.'

I hated being afraid of blood. Specifically, my own blood. The blood of other people didn't bother me, insofar as one can be _not_ bothered by blood from someone else. The sight of my own blood just sent me into a spiral of dizziness, made my stomach want to heave, and caused the sun to black out. I absolutely hated it. In my opinion, it was just a weakness—a handicap that I needed to rid myself of if I ever wanted to become the deadliest female Warrior that Lore had ever seen. And so far, I was well on my way to becoming so. Not many people knew me as a hero yet, but it wouldn't be long now.

Hopefully.

But with my hemophobia issue, who knows? If I saw my own blood and passed out in the middle of a battle or something, I'd hardly be much help, would I? I'd sag to the ground like nothing more than a pile of rags, and if I didn't want to get killed, someone would have to drag me out of there. Talk about a self-destroying future. I could see it now, the 'sometimes hero.'

Yeah, that would go well.

Like emerging from a dark tunnel, I opened my eyes to my surroundings. Wooden beams that, no doubt, supported a ceiling (brilliant deductive skills, huh?) were above me, and I could hear a quiet babble going on around me. Bewildered, I sat up quickly, holding back a wince from the twinge of pain my ribs gave, trying to take in information about my location as quickly as my eyes could offer it. It took several minutes, though; sitting up too quickly had made my head spin.

At the moment, I was very sure that there weren't supposed to be six walls, and that wood wasn't blue. I blinked away the dizziness within a minute or two, though, giving my head a little shake to rid myself of it completely before really looking around. I'm not good at taking in the very minute details that some people do, but I can get the overall feel of a place. Besides, in my fuzzy condition, I couldn't very well do much better.

At first glance, I wanted to say it was a hospital of sorts, just… really small, and a little scruffier than they usually come. But on a second full-room scan, I corrected myself. There weren't many ill or wounded people there, and there were quite a number of free beds. A small nightstand sat next to each bed, and most had both healing potions and a clipboard resting on them. A doctor with flaming red hair and a younger man dressed the same way walked around from here to there. I assumed the other man was an assistant or a volunteer.

"Just a small medical wing," I realized. Most of the men I saw lying on cots like mine had (usually) incomplete suits of armor sitting on the bench at the end of their bed. "They're knights…?" I wondered out loud. I didn't expect the answer to come from the man in a long white coat tending to the man on my left.

"Knights of the Pactagonal Table," he answered as he turned to me. Without any hesitation, he bent down a little bit after placing a hand lightly on the top of my head to keep me still. The redhead stared methodically into each of my eyes before straightening and smiling. "You've recovered well, young lady." I grinned.

"I usually do," I replied, shrugging my honey-colored braid back over my shoulder. I looked around again. "Where exactly… _am_ I, though?"

"Oaklore Keep," the doctor said, picking up a clipboard that rested on my side table, making a note of something. "I'm the resident doctor, Sir Junn. Moving on, I don't want you up and moving around for another few days at least, Miss…?"

"My name's Calliope," I told him cheerfully, resting back on my palms. I winced as my ribcage protested, and I felt as though someone might have just slipped a knife between my ribs. The doctor caught this, and I looked at him sheepishly.

"May I ask what you were thinking, fighting with broken ribs?" he asked sternly. I didn't take it personally; most doctors were just like this, especially those with a good bedside manner. They were concerned with their patients' state of mind, and stayed concerned about them just throwing themselves into danger. Still, I gave him a helpless smile.

"Hey, it wasn't by choice," I defended myself good-naturedly. "It was all the Gorillaphant's fault, anyway. Besides, I can slay my own dragons."

"Gorillaphant?" Sir Junn's gaze sharpened, then it turned knowing. "The tusks?"

"Yup."

A man coughing violently from the next bed over caught his attention, and he replaced whatever clipboard had been by my cot before moving on. He gave parting instructions as he walked over, though. "You still shouldn't be up and about with those ribs, though, Miss. If you want them to heal at all, you'll stay put for the next few days, and avoid rough activity like yesterday for the next few weeks. In any case, you're lucky the Captain was out and found you."

"The Captain?" I questioned rhetorically, tilting my head. As for my ribs, I took the news easily. I usually bounced back from an injury or a shock pretty quickly. And anyway, I had no plans to stay put. _I'll find out when the doc's lunch break is,_ I thought devilishly, for once not voicing my thoughts aloud. _I can sneak out then._ Then something else struck me. _Wait a minute…_

"Yesterday?!" I yelped, my eyes flying wide. I slammed my palm against my forehead, gritting my teeth. "Great… I've lost an entire day of traveling. Wonderful." This just made me more anxious to get out and moving again. I crawled to the end of my bed after Sir Junn had moved on from the man to my right, and hailed the medical assistant. He had to be younger than me, if only by a year or two.

"Hey, when does the doc leave on lunch break?" I asked quietly.

"In about an hour," the assistant informed me tonelessly. He must have really been sucked into his work, I guess.

"One last thing—who's the Captain?" I asked, determined to find out who he was so I could find him and deliver my thanks to him. The assistant answered in the same bland tone, and I thought that under almost any other situation, I would probably never have talked to him.

"Captain Rolith. He's the head of all authority in Oaklore Keep."

I nodded, digesting the information, then shot one last question at the boy. "What does the Captain look like?"

His description was short and concise, and I appreciated it. "Tall, blonde hair, dark armor, and he carries a very large, decorated war hammer." _The double- and triple-vision memories weren't so unreliable after all, _I realized as the images of hazel eyes and blonde hair swam through my head.

"Thanks!" I said with a quick grin, and he moved on without another word. _What a bland character,_ I internally mused, bored out of my mind now. "So I'm supposed to stay here for another few days, huh?"

I chuckled, even though it hurt. I lay back down, still grinning as I began to count down the minutes until the doc's lunch hour.

Besides, it wasn't like I had much else to do.

* * *

**Hey, guys. :) Welcome back! So, most of you already know me from my other Dragonfable fanfiction, **_**Zhi Lao'Hu**_**. The pairing in there is Artix x OC. It's my baby, so if you haven't read it yet, I suggest you do. ^^ There are a few references and/or chapters in this new fanfiction that will make better sense if you've read that one, but this will work just fine as a standalone. **

**Anyway, I haven't introduced myself to you **_**new**_** readers. Hi, everyone, my name is JulietsReplacement. You're welcome to call me Juliet or Ari, a variation of my real name. :3 I always reply to reviews I get, usually in the A/N at the beginning of each chapter, so feel free to say whatever you like. ^^ But this time, there's a little change. ALL REVIEWS WILL BE REPLIED TO AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER, for a very special reason that will soon become clear. :D**

**So, the purpose of this new fanfiction is… well, you know, I'm not really sure there **_**is**_** a purpose. It's just for fun. But the fanfiction this time is centered around Captain Rolith! :D Oh yeah, I remember—writing keeps me sane. Yeah, that's it. **

**Or, mostly sane, in any case.**

**Now, I can guess what some of you must be thinking. "Oh noes! Rolith already has a honey! He's already married to Alina!" Well, I had the stirrings of this fanfiction starting to roll before I knew about Alina, so in my opinion, this fanfiction is fair game. ^^ So, just imagine that Rolith never met Alina. :) Okay?**

**If you don't like the idea of Rolith not ending up with Alina, then the back button is right there. ^^ **

**Well, there you go. :) The first chapter and my introduction. I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you keep reading. ^^ Comments and reviews are welcomed. :D If you have any thoughts that you'd like to share, please do! ^^ **

**The chapters might be a little slow in coming, but they will come on a regular basis, at least. :) I'm hoping for at least one up per month. "How dare you, Juliet!" you cry dramatically. "One per month?! How will we survive?" Well, you see, little voice, I could update twice in a week and then not again for three months. One a month works, yeah? :3 The thing isn't even a quarter written, to be perfectly honest. I want to pace myself this time.**

**Now, since I've blathered on for an entire page, I hope you all made it through the hiatus alright, and it's good to see you again. :)**

**Oh, and one last thing! Throughout this new ride of the fangirls, I have a new companion going with me, just tagging along at their leisure. ;) I'd like to introduce the Awesome MusicofPoetry12! :D She's become a really good friend of mine, and she's giving me the added benefit of an outside eye before the chapter gets posted. :) Treat her nicely, guys! **

**Again, great to see you all, and all I'm asking if you plan to continue reading is for you to cling to the rope ladder of the airship _Golden Touch! _:D**

**Juliet**


	2. Chapter 2

_"There is no_  
_Life I know_  
_To compare with_  
_Pure imagination..."_

_~Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_

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**Chapter 2**

I hurriedly snapped the last piece of my armor into place on my left calf, and waited until I didn't hear anybody outside before I cautiously poked my head out of the broom cupboard. I had managed to get away when the assistant's back was turned and when Sir Junn was out for lunch, and I felt… almost criminal.

It was a thrilling feeling, I have to admit. But now that I was out of that almost useless robe reserved for patients and back in my normal, shiny, golden-toned armor, I doubted that Sir Junn would really notice me. After all, I had high hopes that he was searching specifically for a young woman with blonde hair that was down and in hospital garb, not a lady Warrior with hair hair pinned up. I grinned shamelessly before slipping out into the corridor, and from there outside.

The walls that were several yards away towered above me; unfortunately, they were dwarfed by the actual building they protected. I stared around and up, taking in the sight. I had been in such a hurry to get out of the medical clinic area that I hadn't had a chance to look around before.

"Now might be a perfect time to poke my nose exactly where it doesn't belong," I purred, grinning. With a new bounce in my step, I headed left. To the right was the stretch of the building with the medical clinic, and I really didn't want to head back there. I wanted to get moving. The worn path beneath my feet led me past several doors set in the side of the wall. The first one had a wooden sign hanging outside that declared it to be a weapons shop. I grinned.

"I'll have to stop by there later," I decided. I loved my sword, but I also wanted to get a look at some others. The next door had a sign that indicated it was the mess hall, and I passed quickly. If Sir Junn was on his lunch break, that would be the most likely place for me to get caught.

The next door I passed had no sign. Curious, I went up to it and tugged on the handle. It didn't budge, and this only made the interest flame brighter. I used both hands, pulling at it harder.

"You don't want to go in there," said a knight who had been standing by the mess hall.

"Why?" I responded, thoroughly puzzled by now.

"That's the cellar. It's said to have lots of very, very dangerous monsters in there," the knight told me matter-of-factly. Through the slits in his helmet, I could see his eyes gain this dreamy look. "It's also said there are ghosts down there… like the great Sir Koffagus… I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Sir Pernatural."

"Calliope," I answered with a smile, shaking hands with him.

"Be careful if you go out into the woods… It's said there are ghosts out there…"

With a parting comment about how that was all very interesting, I moved on. Ahead of me, I saw a turn in the path, and a large, ornate fountain in the corner of the wall. The water was crystal-clear, and seeking any more doors that might have been around the corner, I began the turn.

"_Boo!_"

I jumped (as anyone might have in my situation), and spun to face the source of the voice, my hand automatically dropping to my sword hilt. A knight chuckled right around the corner I had been turning, and giggled like an idiot. I regarded him with some reservations.

"Gotcha!" he laughed. I smiled too, even though the joke had been on me. I'd always been good about letting that sort of stuff go. Likewise, I've never been able to hold a grudge for more than about a day, tops. As a result, people generally liked me. Then again, there were always those nut jobs that just didn't. This knight didn't seem like one of those lunatics.

"Don't give some poor old lady a heart attack," I warned after introducing myself. The knight had, still chuckling, bowed and said that he was Sir Prize. By his voice, I put him at between 35 and 40. That was the typical age for some knights. Much older and the men would be starting to lose the physical ability to keep up with the other men. Any younger, and they probably wouldn't have the experience to lead men into battle. Of course, there were always exceptions, like the odd so-called "natural" that came along now and then.

"I will attempt not to," he replied. Behind the visor of his helmet, I guessed that he was grinning.

"Never too old for jokes, huh?" I asked as I glanced around the corner. There was one last door, and I wanted to check it out.

"Never, miss," he said cheerfully, returning to his post. I tugged at the large wooden door's handle, but like the one before, it didn't move. I frowned as I pulled at it harder, trying not to jostle my ribs. They didn't hurt right now, but if I pushed myself, they definitely would. I preferred to avoid that.

"You would think some of these doors would be unlocked," I muttered under my breath in annoyance. But remembering Sir Pernatural's warning about the other door, I decided not to push my luck with this one.

I walked back the way I had come, but when I came to the huge door that was the entrance to the Keep, I paused, turning and looking up at it.

"Intimidating doesn't seem to cover it," I whispered to myself.

"It most certainly does not, my lady." A little to the left of the door stood a knight at attention who I had introduced myself to before—Sir Valance. He was the one who had shown me a place to hide and change into my armor. Satisfied with my halfway-done exploration of the keep, I turned to him now.

"Say, do you know where the Captain is?" I asked him curiously. I was determined to find him so that I could thank him. I always settled my debts, and I was going to try and find this fabled Captain Rolith with the intentions of paying back his chivalrous act.

"He has been out since this morning hunting down key members in the Darkwolf bandit group," he replied. Sir Valance was a no-nonsense kind of guy, and I decided I liked him right off the bat.

"Well, do you know when he'll be back?"

"Most likely sometime this evening, miss," he informed me amiably. I nodded, frowning.

"So that will be how many hours…?" I murmured to myself, mentally counting the hours up. Sunset would happen in around seven to eight hours, so that was how much time I had. "In other words, about seven hours to avoid Junn," I muttered with a sheepish grin.

"Here he comes," Sir Valance said. It was such a calm, level tone that I nearly missed it, and only just had time to hurriedly turn my back in the direction of the path that would have taken me to the armory and the mess hall. After a minute, I peeked over my opposite shoulder to see Sir Junn walking away, back towards the med clinic. It was really difficult to miss him, because his hair was a bright scarlet that automatically drew the eye. I grinned and let out a breath. I turned back to Sir valance.

"Would it bother anyone if I sat here for the rest of the day?" I questioned, pointing to a grassy patch that seemed out of the way between the armory door and the main door of the keep. Sir Valance shrugged, so I took that to mean he didn't mind. I sank down to sit on the grass cross-legged, and leaned up against the wall carefully. I winced as my back arched the wrong way, eliciting another stab of pain from my ribs.

"Maybe I _should_ have stayed still," I muttered, making myself comfortable. My shoulderblades rested easily against the stone wall, and I looked straight up from the ground. All I could see was the wall, and the blue skies. "What a gorgeous shade of blue," I mused. "That would be phenomenal for a painting…"

Oh, how I wished that I had my brush and paints right now. Just looking straight up from the ground… it was a mesmerizing view, to say the least. The sun reflected off the pale stone, making a stark contrast between the endless cerulean blue and the nearly glowing (from the sunlight) eggshell color that was so bright as to nearly hurt my eyes. I let a smirk cross my lips, and while keeping my gaze firmly on what I was already looking at, I raised my right hand to about chest level. Even as I did, memories flew across my mind, one by one, and then in a torrent. I loved to paint. I could remember painting from the front porch back at home, and in my room while looking out the window. Mum patting my head as she saw my progress…

My hand started to move. Up and down, back and forth. It was like I was holding a paintbrush in my hand, and there was a blank canvas in front of me. In my mind, I was capturing that precise shade of blue, and that glowing ivory color. I was back in my room at home, with paint all over the walls. I had my paint palate in my left hand, and without looking at it, I would blend two colors until I got what I was looking for. In my head, I added a slight gradient to the surreal blue that served as the sky in my painting, making it ever so slightly darker the closer it got to the stone, adding a phantasmagorical element to the image. My arm controlled my wrist, which I forced to remain loose and relaxed, so that my brushstrokes would be fluid and controlled. It was a trick that I had taught myself some time back.

When I deemed it done, I looked back down at my canvas, expecting it to be full of color and seeming to shine with a light of its own—the kind of glow that the tops of autumn trees would give off when reflecting a brilliant sunset. That kind of brilliant radiance always filled me with a sort of elation that only an amazing piece of artwork could bring out. So without heeding the small part of me that remembered this was all in my head, I glanced down.

But my eyes were met with nothing but empty air. My painted canvas had vanished into my imagination, along with my paint palette and my paintbrush. The rapture that had consumed my mind disappeared along with it, leaving me feeling strangely empty. My hand fell, as did my expression. The sun hadn't moved too much, and I still had several hours before I could introduce myself to the Captain.

Putting it simply, I had a lot of time on my hands yet.

Frowning thoughtfully to myself, I stood with care, brushing off my armor (unnecessarily), and walked back over to Sir Valance.

"Sir Valance," I began, starting to get excited by my idea, "Would there, by any chance, be art supplies somewhere in the keep?"

"I'm afraid that is not in my circle of knowledge," he replied simply. "If anyone would know, though, my lady, it would be Maya."

"Maya?" I asked curiously. In way of explanation, Sir Valance turned, pointing towards a door that was back in the direction of the medical clinic. It wasn't right next to it, but I hadn't visited it yet for fear of being spotted by Sir Junn. No, thank you, I was perfectly fine not being stuck laying in a bed for the next few days. Thanking him, I began to walk towards that door he had pointed out. By the looks of it, one of the walls of the room that would surely have been behind that door would be the other side of the same wall that Sir Valance usually stood in front of.

I cautiously tried the door handle, and upon finding it to be unlocked, I poked my head inside. I didn't expect to see rows upon rows of books, scrolls, and tomes resting on the shelves. Several that I saw were quite dusty. A sturdy table meant to hold things far heavier than books sat in the middle of what must have been a library of sorts, and a couple of chairs had been pushed up to it. A smaller, less noticeable door hid in the corner, and would likely not have been noticed at first glance. I only noticed because my gaze swept the room more than once. A few sparse candles were lit around the back, and a handful sat in the middle of the table, well away from the edges. Where the candles' light didn't reach was lit by the two thick-paned windows on either side of the door.

"Hello?" I called out. The room was fairly large, a little bigger than the medical wing, but there was nobody there. I honestly felt just a little silly calling out to an empty room. I slipped inside, and gently closed the door behind me, shrugging my braid over my shoulder as I looked around yet again. "Something's missing," I breathed to myself. "Well, aside from the obvious, I mean…"

I walked quietly towards the center of the room, looking up and around me. The ceiling was pitched high, much like the medical area, and designed in a very similar way. Wooden beams held up the floor above that was part of the main keep, and the only windows were about a yard on either side of the door.

The sound of something falling caught my attention, and my head whipped around. It had come from behind that small, second door in the back, and with only a moment's hesitation, I headed back towards it. I carefully peered around the door, and found that this room—though smaller—was lit with many more candles. There was another one of those heavy tables, but different scrolls and readings were scattered over it. 'Neat' was most certainly not a word I would use to describe this room, especially when comparing it to the main room.

But I saw at once what I had heard, and started forward to help a young woman who was maybe my age to pick up a rather alarming pile of books that had clearly fallen onto the floor due to a small landslide that had occurred on the table. She looked over at me when everything was cleaned up, and I smiled, handing the books to her to stack upon other piles of the same.

"Thanks," she said with a slightly shy smile. The first impression I got of this girl was that she had a very cautious and tentative nature, as well as probably naïve; maybe more so than me. In a lot of ways, she reminded me of a deer… ready to flee at the slightest threat, and not willing to fight back. She could be very harmonious, I guessed.

"Maya?" I asked with a bright grin, holding out my hand.

"Yes," she confirmed, shaking my hand with a dainty grip. "I'm the Loremaster of Oaklore Keep."

I'm not saying that I don't have respect for people who don't have a firm handshake, but at the same time, a handshake can tell you a lot about a person. I got the idea that Maya was probably the kind of person who would fly under the radar, given the chance.

"I'm Calliope," I told her, beaming. "I was told by Sir Valance that you might be able to help me…?" I turned the statement into a question. I didn't want to seem imposing or like I was talking to her like stuff scraped off the bottom of my boot. Maya seemed fragile, somehow. But that particular thought was almost immediately eliminated by the intelligent gleam in her eyes. Guess she wasn't as fragile as she appeared, and that was a good thing.

"That depends on what you're looking for," she replied, leading the way back into the main room. I grinned again. Oh, I liked her. With her, you would have to ask the _right_ questions.

"I was told that you would know if the Keep happened to contain some, maybe, long-forgotten art supplies?"

"Oh, are you an artist?" she asked immediately with another smile. She still seemed like the quiet type, but clearly she wasn't as shy as I had first assumed.

"I dabble," I admitted with a half-shrug. I hate boasting, I absolutely hate it. I would rather undersell myself and oversell a friend than have it be the other way around.

"Well, Calliope," Maya said, tapping her chin, "I think we might. We just might."

"That would be fantastic."

"Come on," she said with another small smile, opening the original door. "We can go hunt for some, if you'd like." With a blinding grin, I bounded off after her, for lack of a better term. I was sure if I had a tail, it would probably be wagging.

And digging through closets was exactly how Maya and I spent the next hour or so. We chatted back and forth, and I learned that the brunette had come from a town that was actually quite close to mine. We didn't know many of the same people, but we passed the time while we searched entertaining each other with funny or surprising stories or facts about ourselves. I knew instinctively that I had found a friend.

We emerged from the Keep covered in dust and sneezing horribly, but grinning, and with our arms wrapped around a great number of odds and ends that could be used. I carried the heavier of the items, because Maya looked like anything heavier than a stack of books would crush her. I carried a few rolls (of varying sizes) of heavy, pale fabric. When cut and stretched across a wooden frame, these would serve as the ideal canvas. Thankfully, there was no real shortage of wood around a forest. In the crook of my arm there was a wooden bucket with a matching lid that was much heavier than it appeared. This was plain white paint—but how it had avoided drying out was beyond me. Maybe it was just the place where it was stored…

Maya carried a few paintbrushes that were in really bad condition (but they were paintbrushes, and they were functional, so that was what mattered) and a small multi-compartmented box that was about the length of two of my hands placed beside each other. In each of these compartments was a colored powder that—for all intents and purposes—was no better than fine colored sand. However, when mixed with the thick, white liquid in the bucket that I carried, it would become a particular color of paint that I needed. However, if I wanted a particular color that wasn't in the box, I would have to mix it myself. For the palette, I could easily get a thin piece of wood. As I mentioned before, Oaklore Keep sat in the middle of a forest. There was really no shortage of wood.

Feeling like I had just won a race or a challenge, I fought to keep myself from skipping back to the library. My ribs were already screaming at me for carrying heavy items—hopping or bouncing would _not_ help my case.

"Thanks so much for helping me find these," I chattered excitedly as I shouldered back the door to hold it back for Maya. "I can't wait to get painting again!"

"Do you have a place to set things up?" Maya asked suddenly, looking up at me with a smile. "I'd love to help!"

My face fell, and my step faltered.

"No," I realized regretfully. I felt like slamming my palm into my forehead as a sign of my stupidity. Problem was, there were three reasons that I wouldn't; one, my hands were quite full at the moment. Two, I _did_ have metal gloves on, and it would hurt more than expected. And thirdly, wasn't I already injured enough?

Maya's face abruptly turned calculating, and she carefully set the things she was carrying on the heavy table. "How long are you planning on staying in the Keep?" she asked craftily, raising an eyebrow. I bit my lip thoughtfully.

"Probably a while," I finally answered with a shrug, unloading my arms. "There seems to be enough here to keep me busy for a while, at least, so… if it's not too much trouble, probably at least a few weeks, if not months." Maya nodded to herself, and smiled almost sneakily.

"I'll be right back. Wait here."

She was out the door before I could gather my thoughts enough for a response, giving me no choice but to wait. I blinked a few times before turning back to where everything lay on the table. I chewed on my bottom lip for a minute, then started inspecting everything. I wanted to know exactly what I was dealing with.

The brushes would need a thorough cleaning, and they were in appalling condition; but once they were cleaned, they would work just fine. The heavy off-white fabric was rolled up, very dusty, and the edges were a bit frayed, but it could be dusted off, and it wasn't the edges I would be painting on. The bucket with white paint was just a little bit crusted over at the top, but underneath that, it was just fine. After I broke off the top, I could use it. Just like with an iced-over pond, once the hard shell was gone, there was still liquid underneath. As for the box with the colored powders in it… a lot of it might need replacing, or run out a little too quickly, but they were still useful. I would just have to pace myself with some colors more than others, was all. There were only a few colors—six, to be exact—but I could make them work.

"Let's see," I murmured, "Blue, red, yellow, green, brown, and black… Yeah, I can do that." If I wanted any other colors—say, orange or purple—I could mix them on my soon-to-be-made palette.

"You can stay!"

I jumped when Maya made the exclamation as she opened the door, and frowned. "What? Where?"

"I talked to Sir Preem," she told me with another smile. I had been introduced when we had been raiding the Keep for the art stuff, and I nodded, my smile returning. "He said there's actually an empty room on the ground floor you can stay in."

"Sounds good to me," I said excitedly. "Where is it?"

"Let's get the stuff there, I'll show you," she told me with quiet cheerfulness, picking up the things she had been carrying before. I grabbed the other stuff as quickly as I could without bothering my ribs too much, and hurried after her.

"Well," I muttered with a quick grin, "Today is certainly turning out to be exciting."

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**Alrighty, guys, here's chapter two. :) As per the usual for me, I spend anywhere from 1-3 chapters introducing everyone and describing the main charrie. This is only chapter two. :3 Things will pick up soon, I promise. I put this chapter up early because... well, technically, it's a new month, right? :D**

**But if you see any errors, please let me know so I can try to fix it. :) I have my good friend MusicofPoetry12 to thank again, because she pointed out a handful of things that needed to be fixed! :D**

**Reviews!**

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**MusicOfPoetry12: **_I'm just glad that you agreed to help! :D No worries, HERE IS DEH UPDATE. ^^_

**Arieta41: **_Yeah, this one's gonna be a little more lighthearted than the other one. xD No, this isn't a sequel, exactly... it just happens almost directly after the end of **Zhi Lao'Hu**. :) Artix and Magiya show up, but they're by no means the main characters. So in a way, I don't think that this IS a sequel. :3 Does that answer your question?_

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**So, as you can see, Calliope has a fantastic imagination, and while she's no novice at swordplay, her strengths in artwork and everything in that area can't go unnoticed! :)**

**Now, this I promise: the mysterious Captain Rolith will be introduced in the next chapter, when things get rolling. ^^ For now, you'll just have to be content with what's here. ;D**

**I hope you enjoyed, and please note that ideas or thoughts on people or the plot are welcomed in reviews or through PMs. :) That's why I have the option up there on my page, people! :D**

**I'll talk to you (in a roundabout way) when the next chapter goes up! See ya!**

**Juliet**


	3. Chapter 3

"_Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of  
small things brought together."  
~Vincent Van Gogh_

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Maya led me inside the Keep and down a hallway off to the right, past a flight of stairs, and up to one door among a set of about three. She walked up to the last one and, with her free hand, unlocked it before pushing it open.

"And here we are," she said with a smile. "You can stay here, if you want."

I peered up and around at everything, taking in a general first impression before agreeing excitedly. The ceiling wasn't very high (not as tall as the med clinic and the library, anyway), but there wasn't any risk of anyone banging their head. A simple bed rested in the corner, but it looked comfortable and clean, and that was what mattered. There was a small nightstand next to it, and a chair sat in the corner. A slim table was against the wall between the two. Behind a really heavy curtain, there was a small alcove where a person would… do their business. But what appealed to me most was that all of the stone walls were completely bare, and there was a nice stretch of wall to the left of the door where I could set up my painting things.

"It looks fantastic," I gushed, laying my armfuls of things on the bed without bending over too much. The last thing I needed was for my side to start screeching at me again. "All I need to do is move that table over here so I can set the canvas up against the wall, and…" I started making plans for a way to rearrange the room just enough to suit my paintings.

Yes, I put other things (and sometimes people) before myself. I know it might seem a little… I don't know, weak, or maybe typical, but… putting others first a lot of the time makes me happy. I don't want to be a burden to anyone, and that's part of why I always settle my debts and get even. Sometimes… I guess you could say I pretend I'm okay because I don't want to annoy people with my problems. Back home, I had been known as the shoulder to go to—I would listen to your secrets and not say a word while you talk, then provide advice or comfort later as needed. It was… _nice_, I suppose, to find someone who understood that side of my nature without even saying a word. "Thank you so, so much, Maya!"

"Sure," she answered good-naturedly, setting the brushes and the color box down on the table to the right. "I have to go back to the library, just in case someone comes in with a tome or something, but feel free to drop by anytime!"

"I will," I agreed warmly, grinning. After a quick hug and a few more parting words, Maya left, closing the door behind her. I allowed myself a happy sigh, resting my right hand on my hip and looking around again. Everything was just a little bit… unloved. Nothing was necessarily dusty, per se, but none of it had been used in a while, either. I gave a mental shrug as I moved what was on the table to what was left of clear space on the bed so that I could move the table to the opposite wall. If nothing looked used right now, I could pretty much guarantee that it would within the next day or so.

Thankfully, the table was light—it wasn't like those heavy-duty tables that seemed to be everywhere in the Keep. It was easy for me to move without having my ribs stab angrily at my side, so I slid it across the room to the other wall. I nodded to myself after having done so, and started setting things out. Yes, the brushes still needed taken care of, and yes, the canvases still had to be actually made, but when it comes to art stuff, I like having it organized.

There wasn't much to do in that respect, so when I was done, I wiped what little dust I could off of the furniture that I could, and wandered back outside.

"It's too late to go on a quest," I said thoughtfully as I sat back down on that patch of grass I had found earlier. "You start them in the mornings and usually finish by the time evening rolls around… Speaking of which…" I looked up at the sky. The shadows were much longer than they had been when I last sat here, and the deep blue of the sky was beginning to take on a dusty tint. It was still mid-summer, so 'cold' wasn't something it would be for the next several months, at _least_. I settled my back against the stone again, doing my best to not make my ribs twinge again. I saw that the shadow on the wall of the keep had, for all intents and purposes, moved _up_ the stone as the sun had slowly fallen. As a result of more of the walls being in shadow, the pale brick had darkened somewhat to an almost dull ocher color.

"Maybe I'll fiddle with the colors in that painting," I whispered to myself with a shadow of a smile, dropping my eyes to the goings-on once more. A few knights worked to open the huge doors in the wall of the Keep, and in rode a handful of other men in armor on horses. The giant animals looked tired, but the bond they had with their riders was clear—they still served their masters, no matter how exhausted they appeared. Frankly, it was inspiring. Black or bay, chestnut or gray, the gleam that reflected off of their necks and bodies automatically drew the eye.

"What amazing creatures," I expressed in a quiet tone. The horses' thickly arched necks and fast-moving legs were a normal sight for almost anyone in Lore, but they had always held a sort of wild beauty that seemed forced into one shape, and that was somehow shimmering out through the cracks. The bigger the body and the slimmer the legs, in my opinion, the more gorgeous the horse.

The knights rode off to their left, in the direction of the medical area. Craning my neck to peer past them, I could see that they rode towards a larger set of double doors meant specifically for those on horseback. They weren't nearly as tall as the Keep doors, but they were almost twice as tall as the normal doors within the Keep. These opened and the riders went through, but not before I caught a glimpse of what looked like stalls.

"There are stables here," I stated softly. Suddenly, my outlook on staying at the Keep was very bright indeed. _Never mind that you can go blind from looking at the bright side for too long,_ I thought wryly, recalling a jab that my older brother had given me a few years ago. I missed him…

I closed my eyes as a rush of memories thundered through my mind. Mother, father, brother… I had left all three behind when I was thirteen. It was nice, back home before I left. I ruefully thought of the fun times that I had shared with all three, especially my brother… but I was the one who had chosen to leave. I was the only one in the family with aspirations to be something… _more_. I wanted to be part of something bigger, and I wanted to help people. When I had told them, none of them were happy about it… They didn't want me to leave. I didn't want to leave, either, but leaving home was one of the sacrifices I would have to make.

Mum had supported me. She was one of the mothers that wanted me to go after whatever I wanted, and while it got irritating at times, I was grateful for it. She wanted me to stay closer to home, which I understood, but the one and only thing that made her let me go was the promise to come back when I had finally succeeded.

Dad required a little more convincing. I was his only daughter, after all, and I guess it could be said that I was a bit of a daddy's girl. The main thing that _he_ had insisted on was teaching me as much as he could about the basics of fighting (both armed and unarmed) before I left so I wouldn't be completely defenseless. I actually owed him a lot.

Lastly, my brother. Anthony was my one (and only) older brother. He was only older than me by a year and a half, but he had flaunted the fact over my head frequently. He wouldn't have needed to, anyway, seeing as he was over a head taller. When Anthony was little, Mum said he used to tie a sheet around his neck, grab a stick, and run around the house with a pot on his head, saying he was the most fearsome Guardian to ever set foot in Lore. His dreams of being a Guardian hadn't faded, but he had accepted a more realistic view on life. Anthony's talents lay elsewhere—specifically, in smithing and metalworking. He could put the most intricate design into a piece of red-hot silver that I had ever seen, and was well on his way to being our town's next jeweler and fixer-upper-of-delicate-objects person. I don't know what the job is called, and I don't much care. He was good at it when I left, so he'd probably be even better at it now.

I was so surrounded by warm, fuzzy memories of years long past that I didn't notice when I started to drift, my conscious mind separating from my thoughts. In short, I fell asleep against the wall there, head tipped back and everything. Despite having slept in this morning, I _had_ experienced a very trying day in the extreme. I just crashed, like I would have after having run a marathon or something.

This, of course, meant that I didn't even stir when the last group of horses and riders came trotting through the gate just as night fell. I also missed the broad-shouldered figure in pewter-colored armor riding atop a stunning bay stallion that gleamed with sweat in the torchlight. Six knights followed the man, each on their own charges of chestnut, black, and roan. The gates closed once more behind them, and after a matter of minutes, the same man appeared walking from the direction of the stables.

* * *

"Why isn't she in the medical clinic?" Captain Rolith asked Sir Valance in a quiet murmur. The knight on duty shook his head in silent amusement.

"She was hiding from Sir Junn all day, sir."

"Why?"

"Apparently, she didn't want to get put back in the clinic," the knight answered in a low voice. "She was dead-set on finding you. She must have fallen asleep waiting here."

"Finding _me?_" Rolith questioned, smiling. "Why on earth?"

"You can ask her. Do you want me to wake her up?"

"No," the Captain rejected quietly, shaking his head. "Let her sleep. She can tell me in the morning, if she wakes up in time."

"Are you going on another bandit hunt tomorrow, sir?" Sir Valance asked politely, but there was real meaning behind the question. He was the knight in charge of keeping track of who went in and out of the keep, and if someone wasn't back by a certain time, he was supposed to alert the next in charge: either Sir Preem or Captain Rolith.

"Yes," Rolith replied softly. "Since it doesn't look like she'll be waking up anytime soon, I think I'll just carry her back to her room… Which one is it?"

"East wing on the first floor sir, second door on the left. Loremaster Maya informed me," he told the Captain. Rolith nodded to himself, and with a slight smile on his lips, walked over and carefully lifted the blonde up in his arms.

"What's her name again?"

"She said earlier that her name was Calliope," Sir Valance said in a faintly weary tone. Rolith caught this.

"Go catch some sleep," he ordered. "There are no more men outside the walls. You can get some rest."

"Thank you sir," Sir Valance said gratefully, dropping his shoulders a little bit. Rolith nodded, and walked into the Keep, heading for the east wing. In her sleep, the girl—Calliope?—didn't even twitch. Her head lolled against his upper arm as he walked, and he fought the urge to chuckle, lest she should wake up. It was amusing, though. The thin carpet that stretched down the middle of the hallway muffled the clank of his boot steps slightly as he walked to the lady Warrior's room.

She wasn't light, not by any means. And while Rolith attributed some of her weight to the golden-toned armor she wore, he also knew by the width of her shoulders and the length of her torso that she was also muscular. _Not helpless, not by a long shot,_ he mused. There were many light scratches on the kneecaps of her armor that only went vertically, and he supposed that meant that she had slid to a stop at some point.

He struggled to hold her in one arm as he managed to open the door that Sir Valance had named, and the flickering light from the torches along the wall in the hallway cast a dim light into her room. After gently setting her on her bed, he saw that on a table to the left of the room, there were various items that looked like they had been dug out of the bottom of a broom closet or something. A small box, old brushes, white fabric, and a heavy bucket were the only out-of-the-ordinary items that adorned the room.

_A painter…?_ he wondered briefly. _Hmm. She can't do much without canvases, though._ That's about when he realized what the rolls of white fabric were for. _Oh… heh._

Shaking his head slightly and smiling, Rolith left her to sleep, closing her door softly behind him. The light from the hallway was cut off by the closing of the door, and soft darkness encompassed the room again.

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**Like I promised, Rolith makes an appearance in this chapter. :) Right near the end, but he does. The last bit is written in third person. Since I haven't written that way in quite a while, it may be a little bit (as I like to call it) jittery when compared to my normal style. ^^ Like I said, the last part was in 3****rd**** person, so I hope it turned out okay. ^^ **

**I really appreciate you guys reading this far, and… well, then. :) Review responses!**

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**Skythorn:** _Hey there! :) Haha, it kind of feels a little bit like I just trolled you. xD Sorry about that—it wasn't intentional. :) __**Zhi Lao'Hu**__ is my eldest child (so to speak), and just like me, there can be trouble with pronunciation. xD No worries!  
Thank you so much! :) I decided to post this chapter just a few days earlier for that particular reason, haha! Nice to meet you! :)_

**Arieta41: **_*points up* You see Rolith, yes? WHAT IS YOUR NEXT COMMAND? *bows down* x3_

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**In the next chapter! Things get a little more…exciting. :) Once they pick up, that is. **

**Now, over the weekend I remembered something out of the blue that one of my faithful reviewers from **_**Zhi Lao'Hu**_** said about character development and the like. It was absolutely brilliant. She/He said that in order to know a character inside and out, and to know how they would react to something, etc, you must sleep with your characters. xD Now, my being a teenager and all with my mind half in the gutter, I took this exactly the way it was said and promptly started laughing. **

**Just a little tidbit of my mind that I wanted to share with you. ^^ **

**See you next time!**

**Juliet**


	4. Chapter 4

"_A true friend is accepted freely, advises justly, assists  
readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends  
courageously, and continues a friend  
unchangeably."  
~William Penn_

I drowsily opened my eyes, already mumbling before I was fully awake.

"Mmm… I fell'sleep outside… how'm I in my room…?"

After blinking several more times, I opened my eyes fully, and I connected the dots in a flash. "Must have gotten carried back by somebody," I decided quietly, sitting up. My hair felt frazzled, and I impatiently tugged the tie from the end of the braid and ran my fingers through it several times before rebraiding it. As I did so, I hurried over to the door and flung it open, just finishing winding the ribbon around the end. The occasional window along the opposite wall allowed pale, orangey light to shine in.

"Dawn," I yawned, tossing my braid back over my shoulder. A braid was a quick and easy way to get my hair out of my face, and I didn't have to fiddle with it throughout the day. I closed my door behind me, and cracked my neck both ways. I really don't recommend sleeping in your armor; it's not at _all_ comfortable, bed or no.

I managed to make my way back outside the Keep without getting lost more than once (I stumbled my way into a spare room), and emerged to fairly warm air. I took a deep breath, smiling. It would be a good day.

That was about when I had to jump out of the way of a knight leading two horses to avoid being run over.

Even though it was barely dawn and the sky had only just taken on a pinkish hue, what seemed to be all of the occupants of the keep were up and about, some more so than others. Knights were heading this way and that, and even as I watched, another group of about four headed out through the gates. A pair of men between the library and the med clinic were setting up a catapult, and I briefly feared for their sanity before my attention was captured by the voice of a man who seemed to be giving out orders.

He seemed to be the man in charge, judging by how he was the only one shouting out commands. Things like 'these people stay here, and those people go out on patrol, and you three come with me on the bandit hunt—'

Wait, what?

"I'm going," I muttered to myself before I even realized I had. Speaking my thoughts aloud was a bad habit of mine. I walked confidently up to the man, who was turned away at the moment. All I could make out of him was broad shoulders, dark silver armor, and a head of thick, dark blonde hair. Then he turned around right as I reached him, and he nearly ran over me. He managed to stop himself in time, though, for which I was grateful. Being stepped on by the man in charge would _not_ have been a good start.

Startled, he jerked back, his brow furrowing. He opened his mouth, as though to ask something, then recognition dawned, and he closed his mouth, only to open it again.

"You're the new Warrior?" he asked instead.

"Calliope," I corrected with a shameless grin.

"I'm Captain Rolith," he greeted before frowning again and calling one of the knights out for something or other. Before his attention could wander again, I tugged his arm so he swung back around to me, and I didn't do it lightly.

"I wanted to say thank you," I told him quickly, before something else could distract him, "For bringing me back here." Rolith looked slightly amused, and nodded with a quick 'You're welcome' as he continued to oversee the goings-on.

"When's the next bandit hunt?" I persisted, catching his attention again. No, I don't thrive on attention. I just want information.

"It's going out in about fifteen minutes," Captain Rolith answered. "I'm the head of it. Why, want to tag along?" From his tone, I don't think he expected me to want to. I decided that I would show this sexist that I could do more than he expected. Not show off, necessarily, but… well, alright, show off.

"_Love_ to," I purred in reply. He raised an eyebrow, and a small smile touched his lips. He jerked a thumb back over his shoulder, towards the gate that led to the stables.

"Go have Sir Donic fit you with a horse," he chuckled. I nodded brightly, and turned to head in that direction. Before I could go more than a few steps, though, the Captain called me again. "Calliope!"

I looked back over my left shoulder, raising my eyebrows. I can't raise just one. I never have been able to… Wish I could.

"You'd better be handy with that sword," he said with a quick grin, then he returned (again) to his Captainly duties.

"I've got fifteen minutes," I murmured as I jogged towards the gate where horses were being led or ridden in and out. I slid past a big buckskin that was trotting excitedly out with a knight on his back, and looked around. The stables held close to three dozen horses, I guessed, with only a few still inside. The general flow of both human and equine was going out, so I was having to fight against the tide.

A knight (did all of them wear helmets all the time?) was tightening the girth on a fit bay stallion as I walked up, and I asked him, "Do you know where Sir Donic is?" No time for formalities. If you were inside the Keep's walls, you were considered an ally, and there were no ill feelings.

"I'm he," the knight answered, straightening up. "What'dyou need?"

"Captain Rolith sent me to get a horse."

"Can do," Sir Donic replied, absently patting the bay's neck. "Mare, stallion, or gelding?"

"Whatever's well-behaved," I replied truthfully.

"This way," he told me, indicating the shorter stretch of the stables. He led the bay with us, so I assumed that he wasn't done with him. He stopped in front of a stall door that was still shut. "Do you know how to tack up a horse?" he asked.

"Yes."

"A mare okay?"

"Does she behave?"

"If you're not in her mouth too much, she'll work for you just fine," Sir Donic told me seriously, pulling a bridle off the hook by the stall door and handing it to me. "Saddles and blankets are over that way—" he pointed back the way we had come, "—and you've only got ten minutes. Good luck."

Nodding to him in thanks as he led the bay stallion away, I slid into the stall, and was met by a huge dapple gray. She stood parallel to the wall with the door, and when I walked in, she lifted her head. I cast an appreciative eye over the mare. She was tall, and I liked tall. The junction of her neck and back was above my head. A light, dappled white-gray color patterned her back, sides, neck, and cheeks, while a darker shade adorned her ears, muzzle, legs, and belly. Her mane and tail were a lighter shade of gray, similar to the light patches on her back. A long, fluffy forelock hung over her face, stretching elegantly to the middle part of her face.

"Hello," I murmured, slowly extending a hand to brush her forelock aside and rub the spiral on her forehead. The mare sputtered and she blinked slowly, seeming to enjoy it. "You don't get much attention, do you?" Intelligent, liquid chocolate eyes gazed at me from on either side of my hand, and she extended her nose to snuff along my armor. My heart swelled. "Well, come on, then, let's get you tacked up. We're going for a ride!" I whispered to her, gently running my fingertips along the arch of her neck. The mare did nothing else, merely dropped her nose again.

I hurried to find a saddle for her, then returned to her stall with a saddle blanket. I threw both over her back and with nimble fingers, buckled her girth tightly. The mare simply stood still, and didn't puff out her belly when I fastened the buckle. I smiled at her, rubbing her neck affectionately. I was going to like this mare.

I slipped the headstall over her ears and offered the bit to her mouth, and the gray mare took it without complaint. I tucked the open noseband under the cheekpieces and buckled it underneath her jaw before swiftly pulling her forelock out from under the brow band. I patted her neck lightly, thoroughly delighted with this mare. She was behaving, and not causing any trouble; in short, she was exactly what I was hoping for.

"Let's go, sweet girl," I said excitedly, leading her back out into the stable yard. I had no name for the mare, so any nickname that just so happened to pop into my head would work for the time being. No sooner were we out in the clear than I stopped her and lowered her stirrups. I had measured them a moment after the saddle was on her back, so they would at least fit me so I would stay on, if nothing more. I managed to stretch up to place my left foot in her left stirrup, and (with effort—my ribs weren't entirely healed yet) swung up and over her back.

As I looked down to put my right foot in the corresponding stirrup, I grew gleeful when I saw how far up from the ground I was. I wiggled my butt in the saddle, satisfied with how it felt. "I love you already," I whispered to the mare, running my fingers down the reins. I was pleased to feel the sensation of being on a horse again. The last time I had really ridden was… almost when I left my family.

"That was too long," I chuckled, unable to contain my joy at riding again. "Let's go!" I nudged the mare's sides with my heels, and after a moment's hesitation, the mare broke into a slow trot. Most of the knights had gone out by now (good grief, they're fast), so I didn't have to worry overmuch about having to steer around others.

When I reached the area of the gate, I saw Captain Rolith, sitting on the bay stallion I saw earlier, directing two more knights out of the gate while five others waited on horses behind him. One hand held a huge, silver-and-brass-colored hammer over his shoulder, and the other grasped his horse's reins tightly.

"So that's his horse," I thought aloud with a grin. "Come on, lady, let's hurry and catch up to them before they decide to leave!"

I quickly drew level with the Captain on his right as the group of knights exited the keep, and for a moment, I peered around in excitement. The last time I had been out here, I had been completely lost and set upon by a monster, so I wanted to get a good look while I could.

"So what are we doing, Captain?" I all but chirped to the shape on the bay stallion to my left as the massive gates to the Keep closed behind us.

"Patrolling and keeping an eye out for bandits," he answered in a low tone, hazel eyes flicking back and forth across the path. There was a short fork up ahead; the one on the right led through a thicker patch of trees and around a bend, but I could see blue skies, so it had to be thinner up ahead. The other, the one to the left, stretched along a foresty trail for a while before leading into a darker part of the woods where hardly any light reached.

I sincerely hoped that we would be going to the right.

"What are the main dangers here?" I asked the Captain. I wanted to know everything about where I was, just in case. "I already ran into a Gorillaphant, and I've heard several mentions of bandits?"

"The Darkwolf Bandits are the main threat here," he replied, sparing me a short glance. "You'll know them when you see them. Over _there_—" he nodded towards the right fork, "—is the place where we found you. Most of the monsters tend to stay over there, but nearly all of them are small; just Sneevils and the like."

"That means… the bandits are _that_ way?" I questioned hesitantly, pointing with one hand to the left. My braid swung back and forth between my shoulderblades as our horses trotted ever closer to the split in the trail. I could hear the faint clinks from the knights' armor behind us. Captain Rolith nodded once. "And that's the way we're going, isn't it?" Another nod. "Well, doodle."

"Doodle?" Captain Rolith asked abruptly, giving his stallion's reins a twitch to the left as we reached the fork. I mirrored him.

"Yes, doodle," I confirmed quite seriously, keeping a straight face. I was, at the moment, being given an incredulous look by the man sitting a horse to my left, and I felt like giggling. "What, don't you replace curse words?"

"Not at all," he said slowly, raising his eyebrows. I shook my head at him.

"How _ever_ did you make it this far?" I asked rhetorically.

"By being responsible. But… isn't making up curse words just a little bit childish?" the Captain asked me. It sounded a bit to me like a leading question, so I decided to answer it as best I could.

"There is no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes," I told him, nodding sagely as the light started to dim. Looking up, I was, quite frankly, amazed that thee trees could blot out that much light. I had only rarely been completely surrounded by foliage as I was now, and it was like a splash of cold water to the face.

"That… actually makes sense." I shot the Captain a look.

"You sound surprised," I stated flatly. Mood swings weren't exactly a character trait I possessed, but I could certainly go back and forth fairly quickly. My eyes took a moment to adjust after the group was fully under cover of the thicker trees. It was quiet in here… the silence was oppressive. I decided then and there that I didn't like it. There's a difference between a normal quiet and a threatening silence. It felt like it was pushing in on your ears and eyes, and forcing itself down your throat to choke you.

In response to my statement, Captain Rolith just grinned slightly crookedly. "With your personality, I didn't think it would."

"What, you think I'm the kind of person who just spews out nonsense?" I demanded, my feathers feeling ruffled.

"Yes."

"Well, good. You're right."

He chuckled, nodding. It was a deep sound, and reminded me briefly of a roll of thunder. "I usually am."

I glanced over my shoulder again. I got the feeling that something was watching us. But I got that feeling sometimes (and was often wrong), so I wrote it off as paranoia and our surroundings.

"You like my personality, right?" I shot at the Captain out of the blue. Random questions that had little relation to the current subject were my specialty. He didn't look surprised, and I wondered if he had to put up with personalities like mine often.

"It's interesting," he said with a quick grin.

"Bah, that's just another way of saying 'weird.' Pick another adjective."

"Fast-paced and easily changeable?"

"That's better," I congratulated with a wide smile. I liked making people happy, but I was just as susceptible to compliments as the next guy. "Most people like me like that!"

"What about the ones that don't?" the Captain inquired, raising his eyebrows again.

"Um… Let's say I'm an acquired taste," I finally said, grinning shamelessly. "If they don't like me, then they need to acquire some taste." He laughed then, and I liked the sound. It rumbled through the air, and I wondered if his armor was suffering the same repercussions.

"I can see you've had time to think about this," he chuckled, grinning. I guessed that the Captain could easily act like a kid when given the opportunity—but while on duty, he had to devote all of his attention to his job. With a thoughtful frown, I shook my head slowly.

"No… no, I actually haven't."

"Oh, so you just come up with stuff like that on the fly?"

"I always manage to convince the skeptics, if that's what you're asking."

"Close enough."

I didn't get a chance to reply, though, because at that moment a warning cry from one of the knights behind us caught our attention fully and completely. There was a flash of movement in the corner of my eye, and just out of instinct I ducked, leaning as close to the mare's neck as I could manage. It was perfect timing, too, because a studded mace swung diagonally through the space where my shoulders had just been.

"Fudge!" I exclaimed, tugging my sword out of its scabbard as I rose back up, careful not to hit the mare. That would be bad, and worse, it would be me hurting an innocent animal. I was not going to be guilty of that. I dug my right heel into her side, hoping she would get the message and just praying that she was trained the same way most horses were. To my relief, the mare swung abruptly to her left, allowing me a view of what had previously been behind us. The Captain was already charging into the tangled knot of knights and men on foot, nearly all of whom were armed with the same studded maces I had nearly been hit with. The men I saw who were not part of the Oaklore Keep group were wearing masks of cloth that were twisted around their faces like the ones the men of the Sandsea wore. Their clothes were shades of black, gray, brown, and green—all the better to blend into the forest.

"Bandits?" I shouted to the Captain as I sliced one coming up on his bay's hindquarters between the neck and shoulder. "We walked right into an ambush?!"

"More or less," he called back, managing to edge his dancing horse out of range of another mace. Maces couldn't be blocked with swords, not unless you wanted to end up with a sheared-off dagger. The only way to stop them was to get too close for the owner to swing it, to block it with a shield, or stay out of range. For the safety of his stallion, Captain Rolith was choosing the third option.

Or, in the Captain's case, if you had a hammer, that was just as well.

Even though all sword (or hammer) strokes were made more difficult by having to avoid a horse's head, he made it work. The Captain swung his massive war hammer as though it were a toy, whirling it around his head once or twice before slamming it down on some victim's head or shoulders.

A bandit that stumbled back from a kick in the chest from one of the knights bumped into the flank of Rolith's bay stallion, and he seemed to find a new target. Right as he was pulling his mace back to fling it into either the Captain or his horse, I stabbed him through the neck from behind, having to lean forward almost out of the saddle to do it. Cut through the spinal cord and the jugular at the same time, and death was inevitable. My ribs assured me they would punish me later as I sat back in my seat, and Rolith turned his head just in time to see the bandit crumple to the ground, blood pouring from the slice in his neck.

"You owe me one," I told him jokingly. His expression was still unnervingly serious.

"Duck."

"What?"

"Now!"

The sound of a direct order spurred my mind into action, and I pressed myself as quickly as I could against the smooth, muscled gray neck of the mare I rode. I have to admit, I was impressed with her. Not only was she patient and obedient, but in the middle of a battle, she wasn't overly keyed up. She was incredibly attentive, yes, but she also cast an ear back towards her rider for further instruction. Whoever had trained her had done an amazing job.

My heart tossed an extra beat into its rhythm as Captain Rolith whipped his hammer around above my head, and I heard a nasty, painful-sounding _crunch_ from behind me, then a lighter _thud_ on ground level to my left. Looking back, I saw a bandit with his jaw almost completely disconnected from his skull. The right side of his head was smashed in, and I glanced back up at the Captain before sitting up once more, twirling my sword in a circle to my side, ready to charge back into the fray. There may not have been many bandits left standing, but that was a few bandits too many for me.

"Consider that debt paid," he said with a reckless grin. The smile was contagious, and a matching, wild-side sort of smile stretched across my own lips.

"You say that like it's a done deal!" I yelled, kicking one of the four standing bandits in the back over towards him. He quickly dispatched him, slamming his war hammer mercilessly into the side of the bandit's skull.

"You talk as if it's not," he responded, grin widening.

Yes, I know. It's sick that we're laughing and cracking jokes while killing people, but we—or at least _I_—would deal with the repercussions afterwards. It couldn't interfere right now.

Another knight dispatched another bandit, and as a group, the knights surrounded the remaining two, their swords pointed inwards. The swords would do little to defend either the knights or their horses from the maces, but the masked men would be either wounded or killed before they could do much damage.

Still grinning and excited from the adrenaline rush, I shook the blood droplets I could off my blade and sheathed it, then held out a hand to my left towards the Captain.

"We never got properly introduced!" I chirped. "Calliope, lady Warrior-in-training."

"Captain of Oaklore Keep, under King Alteon," the broad-shouldered man replied, still smiling. "But my friends call me Rolith."

* * *

**And here's the next chapter! :D This one's a lot longer. :3 I tend to stick to shorter chapters, personally. **

**Anyway, reviews!**

**Arieta41:** _Haha, thanks, I've worked hard on that for a good three years running! :D  
Aww, thank you so much! :) I really appreciate it! Just remember, flattery almost always works! :3 *tacklehug* Here's your update… I leave it to you to say whether there were sparks, flames, or just plain friction! :D_

**Skythorn: **_Very cool! :D I have an original that I've been screwing around with for... oh, three years now? xD Thank you so much! As for her name... about a year back, I came across the name, and I fell in love with it. I looked it up, and realized that it was actually a music box of sorts. :) Still loved it. And I know Calliope's not musically inclined, but it just seemed to work. :)_

**But anyway, can you say "friendly competition?" :D **

**I'm going to answer a few questions that may be soon posed here. At least, they're questions that **_**I**_** would have asked if I were a first time reader, and one or three that I've heard more than once from more than one person.**

_**What's the main conflict?**_**  
Like Necromancy was the main problem in **_**Zhi Lao'Hu,**_** the Darkwolf Bandits will be the overall issue/antagonists in **_**Golden Touch**_**. :)**

_**Do Artix and Magiya show back up?**_**  
This has been a frequent inquiry, and I'm happy to say that yes, they do make an appearance here. ^^ Not for a long while yet—and I mean a LONG while—but they are introduced. However, no, this is not a sequel, though it does occur after the events of **_**Zhi Lao'Hu.**_** As such, Artix and Magiya are **_**not**_** the main characters.**

_**What happened to Alina?**_**  
Alina, as many of you probably know, got married to Rolith in Dragonfable. I like Alina, and I have absolutely nothing against her, but this fanfiction was toyed with and considered before I knew about her. Therefore, **_**Golden Touch**_** will proceed as if Rolith had never met Alina. :) **

_**Did you put Calliope through a "Mary Sue" test?**_**  
Yes, I put her through several—even the "love to hate" Litmus test. Calliope may seem like a little more than a Mary Sue than Magiya (all of the results said she was more of one than the Mage, anyway), but the truth is that she was designed to be more preppy than moody. That's just how she operates. **

_**How long is Golden Touch going to be?**_**  
There's no way of telling. It could be as long as (or longer than) **_**Zhi Lao'Hu.**_** Length is a big variable in this—it's the x variable. **

_**What kind of love story is this? The fluffy, happy-ending type? Or the questionable, could-very-easily-go-bad type?**_**  
After spending so long on a slightly depressing fanfiction (yes, **_**Zhi Lao'Hu,**_** I AM looking at you), I decided it was time to start a cheerful, "whoop-de-freaking-do" kind of romance fic. :) And as of late, I've been watching/reading a lot of sweet romance stories… the kind where it's friendship first. :) That's the kind of love story this is. I guess you could say I've always wanted to write this type—the type where the love interests talk like best friends, play like kids, argue like spouses, and protect each other like siblings.**

**So, I hope I answered some of your questions. ^^ If you have others that do not relate to spoilers, please go right ahead and ask, I'll be happy to answer them! **

**Hope you enjoyed! **

**Juliet**


	5. Chapter 5

_"Let the rain wash away all  
__the pain of yesterday"  
__~Diddy, _Coming Home

* * *

"Just a little more gold, I think… just… a touch…"

I carefully swiped my smallest brush through the dark yellow paint and promptly mixed it with the white I also had, creating a sort of dark ivory with the brown I had already blended in. Then I (more or less) tapped the end of the brush against the lighter eggshell color on the canvas, and stood back, nodding with satisfaction.

"There we go," I said dramatically, sticking the paintbrush behind my ear. I knew that I would most likely pay for it later when I had to wash the paint out of my hair, but at the moment, I could really care less. My painting was finished. I had all sorts of blue paint on my left hand and on my cheek, but it was done.

"I was right," I murmured with a smile, inspecting the full canvas. "That blue against the stone _does_ make a really pretty painting." No fewer than two hours after returning from the patrol with the Cap—Rolith—and the other knights had I enlisted Sir Vivor's and Sir Fanturf's help to stretch a few squares of the heavy white cloth Maya and I had found across a couple of birch frames from fallen branches we had discovered right outside the walls of the Keep. The cloth had to be stretched tight, taut to the point where if I tapped the wooden end of a paintbrush, the wood would bounce right back at the hand. From there, all I had to do was mix the colors on my palette that I would need. Then off with the armor, up went the canvas, and I started to paint. I had been at the Keep a week now, and it was my day off. Technically, since I wasn't officially employed by Oaklore Keep, I could help out at my leisure. But I just wasn't that mean, so I helped when I could and pulled my own weight before giving myself anywhere from one to two days off per week.

After placing my palate on the table, I stretched my arms above my head as high as I could reach, feeling nothing but pleasure as my back popped in two different places while my left shoulder slid back into place with a startling snap. I fell backwards onto my bed, arms outstretched, eyes closed in bliss.

"Success," I giggled, resting my hands behind my head. I hadn't been sitting there for two minutes before I was up again, taking off the scrap of a smock I'd decided on using. Before leaving my room, though, I bent backwards, not stopping until my palms touched the floor behind me. My ribs didn't hurt at all, so I decided that they were fully healed.

"That backbend feels way, way too good," I groaned softly, then wondered if I had enough room behind me to flip my legs back over my torso. "Only one way to find out," I mumbled, almost swinging my hips up and above my head. They hovered there for a moment (and only a moment; my balance wasn't as great as my flexibility) before tipping the other way, landing solidly on the thick wooden floor so that I was, more or less, placing my palms on the floor in front of my feet. I straightened up, my hair a mess around my face, and pretty much bounded out into the hallway.

When I wasn't in my armor, I was in brown leather breeches that were usually reserved for men and a thick and heavy gray shirt with a shallow v-neck that could stand up to all sorts of activities, from sliding down a muddy hill on a rainy day on your belly (which I actually _had_ done before) to swimming across a Hydra-infested river (which I had no intents of doing). It wasn't overly flattering, but that didn't matter overmuch; it was comfortable, it would hold up, it covered me, and that was what counted.

I wasn't afraid to go running around the Keep barefoot. It was usually kept pretty clean, and all that I needed to worry about was getting stepped on by either a horse or a knight. I just about pranced out into the fresh air, only to get slapped in the face by an abnormally large raindrop. I then snorted in a very unladylike way, trying to get the scattered droplets of water out of my nose.

"Get that catapult dismantled and indoors!" Rolith bellowed at Sir Vivor and some other knight over by the med center. "If the rain gets into the wood, you can just spend the next two weeks building another!" I rubbed my ear, glaring balefully at him.

"Thanks. We'll see if I can hear anything tomorrow."

Rolith offered a quick smile before his attention was captured by something else. "You're welcome." I glanced up at the sky, and groaned before I could stop myself.

"Great. Rain. Perfect."

"I know it rusts the armor, but really, don't look so excited."

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten out of bed today," I groused, running my right hand through the blonde hair that I had left down today. Wavy and capturing light rather than reflecting it, my hair normally stretched to almost the small of my back—but only if I tilted my head the right way. I had honestly always admired (and even grown jealous of) those girls who had so few worries that they could afford to grow their hair out to their butts, because at least they could stand to be vain about one part of themselves. I was stuck with slate-gray eyes and honey-colored hair that seemed to just stay the one length, no matter how much time had passed.

"Why? Made of sugar?" Rolith sniggered, ushering me towards the doorway of the weapons shop as the drizzle became something a little heavier.

"Not hardly, although by the way you're acting, I would almost think you might be a cat," I retorted, grinning brightly. Rain could never keep me down for long. I hurried inside the armory as lightning cracked across the sky right then, and the rain became decidedly more vicious. The Captain scurried in after me before shutting the door behind him. No sooner had he done this than he promptly looked out the window. Sometimes men's logic just amazes me. Note the sarcasm.

"Ooh, shiny."

The words were out of my mouth before I could even think about them, and I wandered over to the rack of weapons that had caught my eye. One of them was a beautiful sword that gleamed brightly, and had a series of small jewels forged into the blade at the center, but very close to the hilt. "Impractical, but eye-catching," I whispered to myself. Somehow, just sitting there, the blade seemed much, much wider and thicker at the tip than—

"Ah," I murmured as I removed it. "It is." Truth was, the sword was seriously overbalanced. How someone would adjust to using that kind of weapon was just a little bit beyond me.

"You talk to yourself often?"

Rolith's voice made me jump. I had been so absorbed in looking through the sword racks that—

"I completely forgot you were there," I said truthfully, then my eyes widened as I realized that last bit had been said out loud. I rubbed my temples ruefully as Rolith raised both eyebrows, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall, waiting on an explanation. Though, judging by the look on his face, it would have to be a good one. A _very_ good one.

"I… talk to myself a lot," I started, "And I can't really help it. A lot of my thoughts come out of my mouth, like there's a chute or a slide between them, and whatever I think just flies out before I can stop it. Huh. You know, that's probably why I've grown up being so nice to everyone and seeing the positive side, because when I see the truth I can't stop myself from saying it. That's odd. But probably spot on," I rambled, using my left hand to brush my hair out of my eyes again. "Lore, that gets annoying. Another thing is that—"

A metal hand clapped over my mouth suddenly, and I froze with my left hand still in the air. I hadn't even gotten around to putting it down. Rolith looked like he was trying not to laugh—something he was doing a very good job at. I just blinked up at him, unintentionally trying to look as innocent as was humanly possible. Outside, rain tapped impatiently on the window panes, and we heard another crack of thunder.

"You're wiping paint on your face," he finally said, the grin breaking its way through. "You do know that?" Shoving Rolith's hand away from my face, I lifted my left hand back up. Yup, the paint was all smeared.

"Fantabasticulous," I said cheerfully. "Yes, I just made up a word, yes, it is copyrighted to me, and no, you may not use it."

"I'm not sure I could repeat that… even if I wanted to."

"What?!" I demanded. "You don't want to?"

"Calliope, have you ever heard of a tongue twister?"

"Of course. The sixth Sheik's sixth sheep is sick," I told him promptly, then smirked in triumph as he fumbled with the phrase. I had actually spent months trying to get that right, and I was honestly worried I would screw it up this time.

"The sick's six Shiek—wait, what? Say that again?"

"The sixth. Shiek's. Sixth sheep. Is sick," I pronounced each word slowly, and Rolith just shook his head helplessly.

"Pick an easier one."

"Well, no better way to pass the time while it's raining," I chirped before spouting off another one. "Toy boat, toy boat, toy boat. Three times fast. Go."

"Toy boat, toy boit, toy—Shit," he muttered, rubbing his chin in aggravation. "Toy boit—Damn." He eyed me suspiciously, and I just grinned. "How long have you spent on these?" In response, I shrugged, my smile never dimming. "Change of subject. Why are you dressed like that? Why are you purposely rubbing paint on your cheek? And why do you have paint in your hair?"

"I was painting," I told Rolith obviously, as though it explained why the world turned.

"That… doesn't answer my second question."

"Oh. I like seeing color under my eyes," I told him, beaming. Lightning from outside cast everything in white light for a second. "You know how if you look down really hard, you can actually see your cheeks? Well, I like seeing the rainbow."

Rolith just shook his head at me. "You are a piece of work."

"I know," I slipped in smoothly before picking the jeweled sword back up. I tested the balance again in distaste. "Question for you… why would someone forge a sword that would more than likely handicap the user? And to make matters worse, why would they place it in an armory?" Rolith sat down on the bench by the door, and shrugged with one shoulder. That little wing on the one shoulder guard still cracked me up, and I had told him as much during our second outing.

"It's pretty," I admitted, raising the sword so I could look down the length of the blade. "But it's essentially useless. The balance just isn't salvageable." Rolith's eyes narrowed at it, and I held it out to him, hilt-first. "See?"

"I don't need to," he said dryly. "It's obvious by the way you handle it."

"By the way _I_ handle it?"

He shrugged again. "The way you swing your sword… it's just overreaching a little. The way you handle that sword, if you tried to use it in the middle of a battle, _because_ you overreach, even a sword that's slightly overbalanced would send you toppling." I glared at him, replacing the sword on the rack. Heavy rain continued to drum against the window.

"You're too observant for your own good, you know that?" I grumbled, blowing a paint-covered piece of hair out of my face. The paint was dry now, and it would be almost impossible to get out.

"I have a question for you."

"Go ahead…"

"What were you painting that you got paint all over yourself?"

"Not _all_ over myself," I corrected hotly, allowing myself a small grin. "Only on my head and hands." Rolith waved it off.

"But what were you painting?" he asked again, seeming genuinely curious. I hesitated. People were sometimes interested to see what I painted, but as soon as they saw them, they weren't ever mentioned again. As a result, I took to just not showing them to people. It wasn't that I wanted recognition for them—it was just a hobby, something I was actually very good at. But as time passed, I became more and more reluctant to reveal my works. Same rule applied here.

"It… it was just something I saw a few days ago," I answered lamely. "It's nothing big."

"Oh really? Is that why you've got paint in your hair?"

"Maybe," I replied a little defensively. I love my paintings, I really do. But too many people had all but thought them useless, and I didn't know about what Rolith might think. To my great relief, though, he stopped grilling me with questions, and simply looked amused at my reluctance.

"So tell me, Calliope, what did you think of the mare that you rode last week?" he finally asked, a sparkle in his eyes. I tilted my head a little bit, curious.

"I absolutely loved her, she's a jewel," I responded, brushing my bangs out of my eyes again and wiggling up onto the main counter in the armory before swinging my legs back and forth. "I'm actually surprised someone hasn't bought her yet. If I had the gold, I would," I admitted, looking down at my toes. I had difficulty saving up gold over an extended period of time, if only because too many shiny things caught my eye at once. I barely had 50 gold right then as it was. "That reminds me, what's her name?"

"She doesn't have one. She was brought over to Oaklore Keep with the traders last winter, and Sir Donic decided that she would make a good addition to the stables."

"He certainly knows what to look for in a horse, then." Rolith made a noise of agreement, then continued.

"While you're staying at the Keep, would you like her to be your assigned horse?" he suddenly asked, raising both eyebrows. When I failed to form an answer at all, Rolith went on like he was walking on a minefield. "Each knight has an assigned horse that they ride at any point when venturing outside of the Keep, and among others, that mare is unassigned. You really seemed to like her when we were on the bandit hunt, and—"

"_YES!_" I squealed abruptly, leaning back far enough that I was in danger of falling off the wooden counter. My arms were outstretched over my head, and I was excited enough that I literally did fall off the back of the counter when an extremely loud crash of thunder startled me enough that I jumped. And if it wasn't obvious, jumping in shock while a little bit off-balance on the edge of something can, in fact, cause you to fall. And when you fall, if there just so happens to be a stool or a chair behind the counter, you have to find some way of not breaking your neck when the upper part of your back hits the floor. I got the breath knocked out of me, and lay there gasping for a few moments.

That was when I heard the stifled laughter coming from nearer the door.

Scrambling in a very undignified way to set my chin on the counter, I glared over the wooden surface at Rolith, who was doing his best not to laugh. I said nothing, just continuing to glare daggers at the Captain, who promptly started laughing even louder. I had to fight to keep the smile off of my own face, but then I was giggling too. Laughter was contagious, and besides, I couldn't help it. I had always bounced back from an embarrassing situation fairly quickly, and right now was no exception. I slipped back below the level of the counter, and I couldn't get a full sentence out of Rolith for a good eight minutes or so—though, to his credit, he was trying.

Nature, it seemed, was also catching the laughter radiating from the room, and when I next glanced out the window, I saw that the storm was letting up into just a playful sort of rain that _pitter-pattered_ against the windows. It still wasn't light, by any means, but it wasn't the complete downpour that it had been only a few minutes previously.

"The storm's fading," I pointed out, grinning. "So what's on the schedule for tomorrow, Captain?"

"Patrol going from early in the morning until around noon, then there's another one going out about an hour after. You tagging along?"

"Depends. Who's going on the first one?"

"Sir Prize, Sir Anade, and myself," Rolith answered amiably. "Do you want to come along?"

"Considering I've come on all of the patrols since the start of the week, I would think the answer's obvious."

"Not to mention, you make things chaotic."

I beamed. "A compliment from the Captain!" I gasped dramatically. "However can I repay it?"

Rolith rolled his eyes at my antics, though he smiled as he usually did. "By coming on patrol tomorrow," he answered, a grin still tugging at his lips. "So are you game?"

"Do I need to spell it out for you?" I asked sweetly and condescendingly. I batted my eyes, looking as falsely innocent as I could at one time. He shook his head at me, and just to put him out of his misery, I broke my awful act and laughed, "Yes, yes. I'd love to come. It's always fun going for a ride in the woods."

"It's not meant to be fun, though," he warned me.

"Yeah, yeah. But the day I lose my ability to have fun in strange situations is the day you start preparing for the apocalypse."

"You are… something else."

I grinned unrepentantly. "I regret nothing!" I squealed, racing out of the door to the armory into the precipitation that had lightened into a faint drizzle. But the point was, it was still wet enough outside that Rolith couldn't follow me without risking rust on his armor. That didn't stop him from standing in the doorway, looking thoroughly irked that he had to stay inside.

"Life's not about staying dry!" I called to him over the steady, light pitter-patter of the scattered drops. I spun around in a circle, tipping my face up to the sky. "It's about learning how to dance in the rain!" My mother had told me this one time when I was younger, and I had promptly gone out to run around during a thunderstorm. I wound up with a bad cold for the next four days, but she hadn't reprimanded me, and had made sure I got better with a somewhat contented air.

Even as I stood there, looking up at the sky, the drops fell merrily onto my face, neck, and shoulders. It was only when I saw a slight blue drop running off of my nose that I realized the paint on my cheeks was getting washed off, and I giggled, in high spirits. I turned my head to Rolith, who was still standing in the doorway, and gave him a blinding grin.

"You're getting soaked," he pointed out with a wry smile.

"I know!" I piped up, pushing my now-wet paint-stained bangs out of my face again. "But it's just water—it will dry!" The Captain shook his head, but it was good-natured, and it spoke volumes about how I had, yet again, added an element of humor to his day. I was always doing that, and he didn't seem to mind as long as I didn't goof off while it really mattered. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it, or at least looked forward to it.

"We're setting out tomorrow morning, a little after dawn," Rolith chuckled, a smile tugging at his lips. "I trust you'll be on time?" I stared at him quite seriously for a long minute.

"I'm juvenile. I'm creative. I have a hard time paying attention and I love to play around. I'm a little bit naïve. I'm gullible. I act like a six year old sometimes on purpose. I love to pull pranks on people even though I am really bad at them. I love horses, and I have selective hearing when I don't want to listen to someone. But when have I ever been late?"

"Good point," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. "But you've only been here a week, so the last bit remains to be seen."

"… Touché."

* * *

**Hey, everyone! :) I hope that everyone's month went well. ^^ This chapter was supposed to be a little bit about how Calliope speaks, acts, and just works and functions in general- in other words, giving everyone an idea of her personality. :3 Also, it's setting up the next update. xD And I wanted to give that gray mare to Calliope, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity, yanno?**

**Reviews:**

**Arieta41:** _Yup! :D If sparks haven't flown yet, just wait... juuuust wait. B) It might be next chapter- it might be in the last chapter. I'll never tell. BWAHAHAHA!_

**MusicalPoetess: **_Light romance is (sometimes) the best kind! :D Thank you! I'm just glad you're betaing for me! *glomp* DANKE.  
And PRUSSIA approves? *O* I feel special!_

**Skythorn: **_Here's your dialogue- a lot of it. If this doesn't give you an idea about their interactions, I'm not sure what will. x3 Thank you so much!  
And don't you worry, Artix and Magiya are definitely gonna make a guest appearance. :) I've actually already written that part (the once a month chapters were a good idea), and have time to touch it up and make it realistic. ^^ _

**If you've got any questions, feel free to PM me or leave a review, I'll be happy to answer them (unless they involve story spoilers)!**

**Thanks to my sister-friend MusicofPoetry12 for looking over the chapter again! :D You rock, mah ladeh! *tacklehug* Outside of two of my RL friends, you're the best friend I have. :3**

**Another pair of tongue twisters if you want to try them are "red leather yellow leather" and "unique New York." :) Juliet has done her research! **

**Thanks if you've read this far, thanks again! ^^ I am loving how this is going so far, and I love how Rolith and Calliope's personalities are becoming clear!**

**Juliet, over and out!**


	6. Chapter 6

_"It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to." _  
_~W.C. Fields_

* * *

"Zipper. No, Scout. Gah, of course not. Um… Contesse? Tessa for short? What am I thinking? That's not going to work…"

With my chin in my hand, I huffed, blowing air up through my bangs to leave them sitting askew above my eyes. I frowned again, tapping my middle finger against my cheek. From where I sat on the tree stump with lead rope in hand, I watched the mare—no, _my _mare now—contentedly graze. About an hour ago, after we got back from the first patrol (and after lunch), I had haltered her and taken her out to get some good grass. There was plenty outside of the walls of the Keep, but since there was no paddock anywhere near the walls, the horses were kept penned up until they were needed. I hated the idea, so I was taking this mare out for a bit. She really seemed to appreciate it, happily munching away.

And now I was stuck trying to figure out a name.

"Stepper? No, that's a stupid name." The mare lifted her head to gaze at me with warm, shining chocolate eyes, and I immediately took it back. "I didn't mean that _you're_ stupid! I'm saying that the name 'Stepper' would work for any horse," I told her. "I want a _special_ name for you." Appearing satisfied, she returned to grazing, and I sighed, settling my chin in my hand a little further. "Anne? But a two-syllable name fits you better, I think… Annie? No, that's too… I don't know, a little too informal." The mare sputtered, and I shook my head as my brows came down, trying to find a name she would like.

I had been at this for an hour. When I led the mare out of the Keep behind me after changing her into an old leather rope halter (as opposed to the saddle and bridle), I purposely did it right after Rolith, the rest of the patrol, and I had gotten back so that I would have time to let the mare rest. We'd be heading back out in another hour. At the moment, we were only just out of sight of the gates, but in the sunlight. There was an extensive grassy patch near a big pile of logs, and after scouting it thoroughly, I determined that there were no monsters about at the moment. Besides, from what I understood, the bandits tended to stick to the forest, not the more open ground.

"Jazzy? … No, I didn't think so… something more elegant. Serenade? No, I'm not going to name you after an action… Abracadabra is a mouthful, but Abbie for short? Mm, could work… But we're looking for one name. One name, no nicknames. What about Illusion? What do you think of that?" I finally asked her. The mare lifted her head, then unexpectedly shook out her entire coat. It was more of an involuntary shiver, but at the same time, it reminded me of a dog shaking water out of its coat. A clear dismissal of the name. I smiled. "That's out, then."

The contrast between the mare and the bright green grass was stunning, almost surreal. I took a mental note and filed the image away for a future painting. "Titania? But that sounds too… imposing. Too queenly. Not that you're not graceful and proper like a queen should be, of course, but… I want something a little more familiar than that." I eyed her balefully. "I know naming someone's hard, but this is ridiculous… Equinox? Nah, that's more of a stallion's name. Or a gelding's. Just a male's in general. Fray? But you're not a problem horse… Tango, maybe? I think that fits. One word, two syllables, elegant, but not too formal, and not entirely familiar. What do you think?"

The mare lifted her head again, gazing at me with those eyes that it was impossible to dislike. Her dappled cheeks continued to move as she chewed, and she huffed a breath into my face that spoke of the sweet scent of grass, the joys of running without a care in the world, and the dusty, living smell of _horse_. I smiled, and reached up to stroke her nose.

"Most people describe a horse's muzzle as being velvety," I whispered to her, as though I were confiding a secret in her. "But I don't think so… it's more like rubbing against the grain of a sanded piece of wood. One way, it's like living satin…" I ran my fingers down her nose slowly. "…And the other way, it's bristly in… y'know, a good way." I leisurely dragged my fingertips up her nose, more in the direction of her eyes. With a gigantic sigh, the mare bumped her nose a little further into my armored palm, and her eyelids drifted downwards a bit.

"Come on, sweet girl," I murmured, brushing her long forelock out of her eyes and standing. "Let's get back." As a general rule, the horses around the Keep had roached manes, uncut tails that were bound and tied up during riding, and their forelocks were left untouched. From what I knew of horses, it was supposed to show off their abilities as warhorses by making their necks look thicker and more muscled. It worked, and quite well, too.

I had the mare sidle up to the stump I had recently vacated, and stepped up on it to get a sort of step up to hop up onto her back. Leaning as far forward as I dared, I tied the other end of her leather lead rope to the same place where it was coming from so that I had a makeshift pair of reins. Leg signals would take care of the rest.

I rode back through the gates to find Rolith missing from his usual spot. Since Sir Valance always seemed to know where everyone was (he was excused from normal knight duties since he was the only one who could keep track of everybody), I dismounted near him, and walked up to the knight.

"Sir Valance," I started, brushing my bangs out of my eyes, "D'you know where the Captain is?"

"I believe he's fixing up his hammer, my lady."

"Oh. Any idea when he'll be back?" I asked, looking back at my mare. A devious plan was beginning to form, and I would need some time to carry it out. 'Time' meaning at least ten minutes. And maybe Maya's help.

"Most likely by the time the next patrol is ready to head out," he replied. I nodded, grinning.

"Okay, thank you!" I chirped, smirking as I all but pranced back towards the gate where the horses were kept. After swiftly brushing off the gray mare, I tied her to one of the many tying posts in this section of the Keep, and hunted down Sir Donic.

After all, I had an evil prank to carry out, and it would be difficult to reverse.

It was absolutely harmless, but the damage to his reputation would be more difficult to reduce. A grin starting to grow on my mouth, I hurriedly put my mare back in her stall (with a whispered promise in her slender ear that I wouldn't be long) and ran off to Maya's library to enlist her help.

Six and a half minutes later, I was attempting to sneakily replace Rolith's bridle on the hook outside of his horse's stall, and barely managed to get back to my mare before running into the Captain.

"Oh! Captain!" I piped up, grinning brightly. "Time to head out again?"

"Yep," he replied. He was well used to my shadowless smiles and random good moods, so I saw nothing that would suggest anything relating to suspicion. "You'd better go tack up."

"Am doing!" I shot back cheerfully as I walked backwards to my mare's stall. Slipping through the doorway as soon as I had it unlatched, I cradled her head for a moment. "He doesn't suspect a thing," I revealed softly, using the heel of my gloved palm to rub at her spiral gently. "All is going to plan."

Secure in the knowledge that he would be completely surprised, I went about my business in rushing to tack up. I meant what I said to Rolith yesterday—I couldn't remember a time when I had been late that it was entirely my fault. I tossed the black saddle blanket up on the mare's back, following up a moment later with the leather saddle. I tightened the girth and let down the stirrups before moving on to the bridle. My mare accepted the bit without complaint, and as I pulled her forelock out from under her browband, I smiled again. Rolith had no idea what was coming to him.

I exited the stall leading my horse behind me, and as soon as we were clear, I hopped up into the saddle, wiggling my butt a little to get settled in the seat. With a small click of my tongue to get the mare walking, we trotted over to the main gates in the Keep. It was a generally accepted rule that if you were going out in a matter of minutes with a handful of others, if you were ready before they were, you were to wait by the gate.

My mare must have sensed my excitement, because she was a bit more lively than usual. She wasn't misbehaving by any means, but she kept looking around with her ears up and swishing her tail. For her, it was the equivalent of what one of the stallions a ways away from us were doing—dancing around and crabbing, refusing to keep still. I couldn't wait to see Rolith's face… if he even noticed. There was only one way he couldn't, and that would be if he was absolutely blind. And he wasn't. The Captain was actually more observant than a lot of people that I had known throughout my life. I could only wonder how he managed to notice every small detail in every day of his life.

"I'm gonna have to ask him about it sometime," I mused aloud, absently stroking the base of my mare's smooth gray neck. She abruptly turned her head and snorted, tossing her muzzle a bit in the opposite direction of the way we were facing. Turning my head, I saw Rolith riding his bay stallion in the direction of the gates, and he looked _mad._ Not just angry, but positively _livid._ I offered him a bright grin as he drew level with me, and I swear it looked like he was about to strangle me. I'd seen the look before, so I wasn't overly alarmed.

"Calliope."

_Ooh, he really _is _mad._

"I take it you did this?" His voice was tight, and he was giving me a 'look.' The kind of look that said 'You will pay for this.' It was hard to keep an eye on Rolith when the sparkly rhinestones that now studded the browband of the bay's bridle automatically drew the eye, though.

"Can you prove that?" I questioned innocently, blinking adorably and swiping my bangs out of my line of sight again. I couldn't even stop myself from smiling, even if it was just a smirk.

"Do I have to?" he responded dryly, and he did appear to be slightly ticked.

"Nah," I told him, quite enjoying myself now, "I admit to it freely."

Rolith ran a hand through his hair. It seemed to be something he did when he was exasperated. Me being me, I decided to just make it a bit worse.

"I personalized it!" I announced happily. I was proud of myself, and it was impossible to keep a straight face. "I think it suits you!"

Behind me, I could hear one or two of the knights trying unsuccessfully to stifle their chuckles. The Captain caught this, and immediately, his murderous glare shifted over from me to them. I couldn't have brought myself to regret that jab, even if I had wanted to—it was worth it.

The actual rhinestones—three or four gold.

The bridle (at some point in time)—ten gold.

Rolith's reaction to the prank—_priceless._

"We're almost late as it is, Captain," Sir Anade chortled. "There's no time to take them off."

"Also, they're permanently fixed on there," I added thoughtfully, my grin widening. "Can we go now?"

In answer, Rolith maneuvered his stallion past us with little difficulty and trotted stiffly through the now-open gates. Feeling strangely proud of myself, I nudged my mare into a jog after them, and the knights followed us. At the fork in the trail a few hundred yards from the walls of the Keep, Rolith gently pulled back on the reins, coming to a stop.

"Split up. Sir Prize, Sir Anade," he said curtly, "You two head towards the cliff and make sure that no new adventurers have gotten stuck out there. We—" He motioned between himself and me, and I tilted my head. "—Will be going deeper into the forest. Meet back here in…" Rolith paused, looking up to try and see the sun through the leaves that formed a canopy over our heads. "…Two hours."

"Yes, sir!"

I trailed after him on my gray mare, feeling satisfied but quiet. So I let my hips stay loose in the saddle, feeling my torso rock gently back and forth as we walked. The silence was oppressive, and I had never been good with silence. It was for this reason that I decided to absolutely shatter it.

"I hope you know that those are permanent," I repeated, referring to the eye-catching rhinestones fixed to the bay's browband. Rolith grunted moodily as he pushed a low-hanging branch out of his way.

"I guessed that much."

"Your horse doesn't seem to mind," I reasoned as I gestured at the thick-necked battle horse, my smile never fading. "Leastwise, he's not complaining…"

"Not audibly," he muttered, but even I could tell his mood was beginning to lighten. From the looks of things, he couldn't hold a grudge for very long. Of course, neither could I, but I had the attention span of a—

"_Get them!_"

"What the hell!?" Rolith swore.

Out of nowhere, four black figures sprang onto the path ahead of us. Something told me that they didn't want to chat—maybe it was the fact that each of them carried a mace. Shocked, I dug my right heel into the mare's side, spinning her around to the left so my right arm, sword in hand, was free to move around. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rolith already turned in the opposite direction of the way we had been headed, his horse's front half partway off the ground. He seemed to be dealing with a similar problem, but there were many more black-clothed men on his end.

"Another ambush?!" I exclaimed a little breathlessly as I directed the mare to shy to her left in order to avoid an out-of-control mace swipe from one of the bandits on my side. I whipped my longsword around to bury it halfway through the man's head, having to use the sole of my boot to assist me in jerking my blade out of his skull. "Pleasant," I mumbled, inadvertently flinching as flying droplets of blood spattered against my right cheek.

"Somehow, I don't think they're trying to k—_ugh!_"

The sentence wasn't even out of the Captain's mouth before I heard a wordless exclamation from him that didn't exactly sound good. Sliding my sword through the junction of a bandit's shoulder and neck before anxiously looking over, I saw the broad-shouldered man slowly slipping sideways out of his saddle to crash to the ground. Another man's club was still up in the air, and from the fact that Rolith did nothing to stop himself from hitting the grass, I could guess that his mind had a '_Back in five minutes'_ sign on it.

"Captain!"

By the way, I don't think I've said that my short attention span allows me to altogether forget current events. Such as the fact that, oh, I don't know, that there were still a couple of (potentially) dangerous men out to attack me less than two yards from where I sat on top of my mare.

Well, now that it's out there, I think I can safely say that right at that moment, I felt a heavy pain in the back of my head, and like water swirling down a drain or a funnel, my world spun into an ever-smaller point until it disappeared completely into blackness.

* * *

**Hey, all. I thought a little bit of excitement was in order. :) Don't worry, this is all part of the plan! It just gets better from here! So act like you know what's happening and go along with it. Smile and wave, ladies and gents, smile and wave...**

**Another thing that I think all of you will approve of! I'm changing the "monthly" chapter to a "biweekly" chapter! :D I was getting a bit bored sitting around, waiting to update, and I realized that if I was unhappy with it, then maybe I ought to do something about it. So I am. ^^ BE HAPPEH. Chapter every two weeks!**

**Now, reviews! God, you people are starving me! I thought I had more DF romance fans on here! D'x**

**Arieta41:** _I'm glad you like their personalities**—**Calliope went through about four different attitudes before I found one that just suited her. :) Granted, this happens a lot to me in character development, but it still happens.  
And yes, I will be inserting a section (if not an entire chapter**—**probably not) in Rolith's POV. It won't be for a long while yet, roughly one or two chapters from the end, I'd wager, but there will definitely be a "Captain POV." ^^_

**Time to share a blooper! :D I love doing these! In the original plot line, Calliope (I've always loved that name) never pranked Rolith in any way, shape, or form. So I was going along with my business, writing the story and all… and I realized that Calliope was too good for… well, for her own good. So she needed to pull one or two jokes on Rolith. She was all goody-two-shoes and the perfect little princess, and every girl needs a dark side, am I right? Bwahahaha!  
The best way I could think of on the fly was for her to—essentially—bedazzle Rolith's bridle. :)**

**Anyway, I hope you're all having a good day/week/month! See you all next time! :D**

**Juliet**


	7. Chapter 7

"_No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely  
under conditions of absolute reality."__  
__-Shirley Jackson, __The Haunting of Hill House_

* * *

"…We could ransom them."

"Don't be stupid. They wouldn't pay much for the man, so what do you think they'd pay for the girl? _Nothing._ It's pointless."

"But we would get gold."

"And then they'd come back later and try to wipe us out again. Think ahead, dumbass!"

_Why can't they keep it down…?_ I mentally grumbled, my brows twitching. _Wait… patrol… forest… bandits…_ My eyes flew open. _Bandits!_

The light scalded my eyes, and I automatically squinted back against it. After a second, I forced my eyelids back again, and devoured what my gaze had to offer me. Bright orange light was covering everything. After a moment of haziness, I registered that it was nearing sunset, and I was looking at a clearing with several tents at one end, horses tethered at the other, and weapon stands closer to the tent end than the horse end. I moved to brush my bangs out of my eyes, and was caught by surprise once again—my hands were bound. Immediately after, my mind cleared enough for my consciousness to be assaulted by a slew of questions.

_Why are my hands tied? Where am I? Why aren't I dead yet? Where's my horse? Is she alright? And do the other knights know about this? Wouldn't they have come to the rescue? Or does the Keep not pay ransoms for its subjects? Are they going to let the bandits kill me? I don't want to die. Wait… What happened to—_

"—Rolith?" The last part of the most recent question came out through my mouth, but it was a disheartened mumble that I found difficult to match up with my normal tone.

"Yeah?"

The response came from over my right shoulder, and I twisted my head back and around, craning my neck to look. I saw a glimpse of dark, bronze-ish hair that seemed mixed with a little bit of gold… if you underlaid a bit of dark gold, edged it with dark brown, and slapped some light yellow highlights into a few parts. And maybe touched the underneath parts with a tiny bit of burnt sienna.

He turned his head then, and I caught a glance of his hazel eyes. Twisting my wrists a little bit again, I realized that my hands must be tied to his. Looking down at my legs from where we sat on the dusty edge of the clearing, they looked longer than usual, and there was a piece of rope tied none too loosely around my ankles.

"So… why didn't they just kill us?" I asked in a quiet murmur tiredly. I could easily fall back asleep again, given the chance, but now that I knew where I was, I wouldn't let myself.

"They're talking about ransom. Others are arguing that they should kill us," he told me in a low voice over his shoulder. He sounded irritable, frustrated, and just a little bit… defeated. "Then leave our heads outside the Keep's walls. And then there are two or three that think we could just be sold to slave traders in the Sandsea, make some extra gold, and leave it at that, but the rest think that's too much trouble."

"Well… what's the majority?" I hazarded quietly, my gaze zeroing in on the group of arguing masked men dressed in black and dark green. I felt the Captain shrug against my shoulders.

"It seems evenly split between killing us and ransoming us."

"You seem pretty calm about this."

"What good would losing my head do? No pun intended."

"Well-played… But aren't we going to try to… y'know?"

"Do what?"

"Escape or something. There's always a way out of things like this. You hear of knights, heroes, Mages, rogues, and Warriors getting into scrapes all the time, but they always get out of it," I told him softly with not entirely sound reasoning. Rolith made a noncommittal noise.

"That's just because you never hear about the ones that _do_ get killed," he muttered over his shoulder. He was facing the woods, and we were back-to-back, but even though I couldn't see him, I could almost feel him look up in the hopes that the sky would give him some sort of idea. It seemed to be something he did often.

"Well…" I said slowly, "The sun's going down, and it's starting to get dark… any chance that they'll wait until morning?"

"There's every chance," Rolith replied. "These bandits… erm… they have a one-track mind."'

"Like me?" I felt his quiet chuckle rumble through both sets of armor, and it made me smile again.

"Like you," he agreed. "But they're a little less focused on the one thing they think of. It's easy to distract them, and they take the short route on things."

"They take shortcuts," I clarified. I was still learning about these guys—after all, I had only been at the Keep for about a week. I felt Rolith nod against the back of my head.

"Yes. They can only handle doing one thing at a time, and since it's getting dark, and they would really rather sleep than deal with this in the morning…"

"…They'll probably actually decide at dawn?" I guessed quietly.

"Close," Rolith answered. "They will—most likely—make the decision now, sleep on it, and execute the plan in the morning, but not at dawn."

"I'm really hoping that wasn't another pun," I grumbled under my breath, and I felt Rolith laugh quietly again. "But it could be worse."

"Oh?" he asked skeptically, and I shuddered theatrically, twisting my hands uncomfortably behind me.

"Yeah. There could be spiders." Just the thought had a shiver rippling from one side of my shoulders to the other, and I heard our armor rattle together as a result. There was a moment of silence.

"… Spiders… Really?" Rolith finally asked in that 'are you kidding me?' tone of voice. The same tone that questioned my sanity, and the same one I heard almost daily. In response, I nodded quite seriously, kind of like a child might when explaining to their parents why it was that the world turned, or why wood was flammable.

Or, as _I_ had years ago, how babies were made.

"Yes, really. They're evil little bugs," I stated quietly. I took advantage of the stunned silence to look up at the sky, and realized how much I was relying on my so-so night vision right now. There were a handful of stars sprinkled across one side of the sky, and on the other side, there was a sort of burnt orange color staining the very edges of the trees on that side of the clearing. It slowly shifted into a deep, dark blue that was almost black, and it was rapidly spreading like ink over to the orange side. If it were a war, the blue side would be winning. I liked blue. Blue was a nice color.

Also, there was a half-moon out. This meant there was enough light to see by, but not so much that it was as bright as day—that just made it irritating, most of the time. But a half-moon is perfect. There's a beautiful silver sheen over everything, and you don't have to strain your eyes to see, though you still have to use your night vision.

Thankfully, my vision was still good enough that I could see two particular horses that stood out in the group of them that were tethered at the long horizontal pole. One was a silvery gray in the faint light, and the other—the one that was facing us—had a rather distinct bridle. I was glad to see that both had escaped injury. It would have been horrible if either of them had been harmed, and I didn't want to take responsibility for that having happened.

Looking over at the campsite part of the huge clearing, I noticed it had gone mostly quiet. I nudged my right shoulder back against Rolith's to capture his attention. "Is… that a big axe, or is it just me?" I breathed, indicating the seven-foot-tall weapon with a four-foot blade that had just been rested against one of the main tent poles.

"It's not you," Rolith murmured, his head drooping a little. "That's an execution axe."

My blood seemed to freeze in my veins.

"…What?" I managed in a slightly strangled voice.

"And they're probably going to kill us in the morning," he continued dryly.

"Are you saying I should take comfort in that?"

"Almost."

"Great," I muttered sarcastically. "That means we have… about six—no, seven hours… Alright. Rolith, I have something for you to do," I told him. I had a plan starting to swirl around in my head, and I wanted to set it into motion before consulting him so that he wouldn't have a chance to turn back. I was just immature like that. "First, do you ever carry a knife on you? Dagger, throwing knife, anything?"

"No," he said a little suspiciously. "Why?"

"I'll tell you in a minute. I need you to do something for me." This was going to sound strange until I explained it, but it could be fun to watch him squirm, so I might not explain. I took a quick breath, then continued. "I need you to reach under the skirt of my armor and feel around."

The long, potentially painful silence told me exactly what the Captain thought of that. He didn't even twitch behind me, and I could barely feel him breathing. I knew very well how that must have sounded, but it was fun to mess with his head. It was fun to mess with _anyone's_ head, actually.

"Calliope…" he started slowly, sounding like he would slap me over the back of the head given the option. I couldn't help the broad grin that quickly spread across my lips. So I liked making people feel awkward sometimes, sue me. It was fun.

"Yes, sir?"

From the inarticulate sounds Rolith was making, I had a pretty good idea that he was having a great deal of trouble finding the right words to put to his thoughts at the moment. It happened a lot to most guys when they were put in this situation. After a solid two minutes, I decided that I could afford to spare him, and cut him off in the middle of one of those wordless mumblings.

"I keep a small dagger in a sheath strapped against the outside of my right thigh," I relented in a quiet whisper, tipping my head back to rest against the Captain's left shoulder so he could hear me better. I still wasn't going to risk being overheard by any of the bandits. Frankly, just the fact that they hadn't put us under guard was shocking to me. "As I'm sure you can figure out, we can use it to cut these ropes, and then we make tracks."

"Oh? How so? On foot, or did you have a better plan?"

"Well, I was thinking that our horses are right over there," I said mildly, jiggling my right shoulder just a little bit to indicate the direction. It made a faint clinking sound. That was another thing we would have to watch—the sounds our armor made. These suits weren't exactly designed with stealth and ambushing in mind. "These rock heads didn't even bother to put a guard on us, and they don't watch the horses. I'm assuming there's at least two or three guys around right outside the clearing, though," I murmured, jerking my chin to get my bangs out of my eyes.

"And how will we get past them?" Rolith asked skeptically, balking. He might have been the sort of guy to think everything through, but I wasn't having it.

"Look," I grouched, "You may be resigned to dying, but I am _not_. I'm not going to go out of this world without having tried first. So are you with me, or not?"

"It's not that," he tried artlessly. "It's just… I mean, it's a sound plan, hypothetically, but…"

"But what?" I demanded quietly. "I can't reach my knife. My arms don't bend that way! And I'm _not_ leaving your sorry metal butt here, because nobody gets left behind." That was one of the many small things my father had taught me. No comrades are abandoned. If they turned to the dark side or whatever, then fine, they can be left. But if they turned back to your side, you went after them.

After all, my family takes after their own.

"Well… Calliope… you're a _woman._"

"… And I'm sure there was a point there somewhere, aside from stating the obvious."

"I'm not reaching under the skirt of your armor!" he protested in a low voice. "It-it's not—"

"Now is not the time for chivalry!" I declared quietly, throwing my head backwards to knock it against Rolith's. It hurt, but it was worth it. "Rolith, if you want to get out of here alive, you will _get that knife._" My voice lowered into a growl, and at the moment, I couldn't have been more serious. "If you don't get it, and we just so happen to get out of here, I swear to Lore I will find a way to kill you myself. Now reach!"

It seemed that did it. After a slightly pained sound, I felt cautious armored fingers tapping at the skirt of my armor, trying to find the part closest to the outside of my thigh and not a more… _dangerous_ area. He was on a minefield full of Lim's stink bombs, and he knew it. But after a few moments of walking the tightrope, I felt the small dagger come loose of the sheath, and then a repetitive sawing motion. Since both of us wore the armor gloves that were a part of the suit, there wasn't much fear of someone's hands getting sliced (thankfully), but it still took almost a minute for Rolith to cut through the three thick pieces of rope.

When I felt the ropes go slack, I hesitantly moved my arms around so they were in a normal position, and I almost groaned out loud. My shoulders were beyond sore from being in that position for so long—hours, apparently. We had set out on the patrol about an hour after noon, and the sun had set not long ago. Pushing myself to my feet, I cupped the ball of my shoulder and shifted it around, observing Rolith do a similar thing. I smirked.

"Just because you're more muscular doesn't mean that you're immune to this kind of stuff, Captain," I deadpanned faintly. "Now let's go."

"Isn't that my line?" he challenged in a quiet murmur. I didn't take the bait, and instead jerked a thumb back at where the horses were all tied.

"Come on already!" I whispered impatiently. The horses that I didn't recognize—though well-used to human interaction—clearly weren't used to being disturbed once the sun had gone down, and I eyed them warily as I went around them all to get to my gray mare after pointing the bay out to Rolith. She pricked her ears at me as I pulled at where her reins were knotted around the wood, and I shushed her, giving her thick gray neck a quick stroke before starting to pick at the tie.

"They don't tie horses like this back at the Keep," I muttered under my breath as I finally managed to undo the leather, then gave the mare's girth a quick tug to check that it was tight. Since she hadn't been being ridden when the bandits brought her back, they had loosened the strap holding the saddle on. At least they had that much sense. Biting my lip and looping her reins around my left arm, I used both hands to crank the girth up a hole or two so the saddle was secure, then hurriedly slipped her reins over her head before giving a little hop to get my left foot in her stirrup.

Once in the saddle, I wiggled my butt so I wouldn't be easily moved, then tapped my heels against her sides to get her moving. I passed the place where Rolith's stallion had been, and he wasn't there. Neither was Rolith. Assuming they had already gotten to the entrance of camp, I clicked in a low voice to the mare to get her going just a little faster than a jog.

"Come on, sweetie," I whispered to thin air. "Let's get out of here."

Sure enough, Rolith was going with his bay at a quick jog through the woods. He was sticking to where he could see grass and avoiding leaves, so I did the same. Getting out of here would be easy, but making sure they didn't hear us would take a little more concentration. Also, it wasn't that we would be covering our tracks—it didn't matter if they knew where we were going—but it would matter if we could get back to the Keep before they realized we were gone. And that was the kicker here. That would be the turning point. It was the difference between slipping away without a ripple, making a clean getaway, and having to make a run for it. But the further Rolith and I got from the bandits' camp, the faster we went. But unspoken agreement, within ten minutes of our leaving, we were both at a flat-out gallop on our steeds, ducking low branches and jumping fallen logs. My heart was hammering about as hard as my mare's was, if her breathing was any indication. By the time the forests gained some sense of familiarity, we were shooting out of the deeper woods and back onto the track that led to the Keep.

Now that the danger was past, I allowed myself to resign to exhaustion… to the disappearance of the adrenaline that had helped us keep going to get out of that stupid camp. And whenever adrenaline fades, it leaves you an empty shell, feeling absolutely drained.

_Was it a daring escape?_ I wonder as Rolith bangs on the gates, calling for the night watchmen to open up. _Hardly. But we got away alive, and it wasn't our fault that we were ambushed. We were paying attention. Or he was, at least._ A handful of knights surround us as we re-enter Oaklore Keep, all chattering and asking questions. Rolith might have satisfied some of them, but I know that for once, I didn't open my mouth. _So it's true,_ I mused. _For some people, shock comes after the fact._

I could be content with that.

Especially since not much else mattered aside from faceplanting into my mattress, having just stripped off my armor and left it sitting on my floor.

* * *

**Hello again, my freaky darlings! **

**Funny thing about this chapter is, I finished it in four days flat, despite having to play professional at a school career fair our class is hosting. I get to be a graphic designer, since a classmate is an author/writer, but I don't mind. :) Those of you who have my deviantArt account know that I'm not exactly lacking in the right-brained part of life. **

**Anyway, reviews! Y'know, from all that shameless fishing for reviews last chapter? ;D**

**MusicalPoetess:** _*high fives* Schwester-friend! Danke, danke, danke! *bows* I shall! B) You may or may not enjoy the coming chapters, depending on your POV. ^^  
And I already know how to curse in Russian... I believe I'll pass that on to you! :D_

**Arieta41: **_Calliope has a simpler, brighter look at life, and I had to really alter my writing style transitioning from Magiya to Calliope. :) I'm glad you liked it, I really am, cause that means I did a good job with that!  
__And yes, the mare will definitely have a name in the future. Here's hoping it's one of the ones you liked. Tango was really close, I have to say.  
__Bahahaha, here's your proof that they're fine! :D _

**Ellexinda:** _Hi there, nice to meet you! :D You're right... for the most part (except for us loving fangirls/boys), Dragonfable is left alone. D'x It deserves more love!  
__Also, thank you so much for taking my "poor me" comments to heart! *glomp* I think that, in our own way, everyone's a bit of a romantic at heart. ^^ Somewhere in that cold, barren wasteland or tundra, y'know... right there. And of course I'll go back and fix that typo. :) Thanks for bringing that to my attention! To be quite honest, I've come across so many of those while reading many other fanfictions that they almost completely escape my notice sometimes. ^^ I might go check out your fanfiction- I'm in the need for a dark, slightly angsty fanfiction because I've been playing martyr for a week. :) Looking forward to talking to you again!_

**Thanks so much if you're reading this, I'm really thrilled that you've read this far. :) I can't even begin to describe how much of a little thrill it gives me to see the little "New Review" message in my inbox. :D Thanks so much! GLOMP TIME! **

***massive uber atomic glomp* **

**If you've got questions, feel free to PM me or leave a review asking! :) I'm perfectly happy to answer any question put to me—as long as it doesn't involve any of my real information or story spoilers. X3 I'm not going to ruin the story for anybody. It would alienate so many users on Fanfiction… **

**And I had a thought! Yes, I know, always a dangerous thing, but this is a good one! Do you think I should post bloopers up in the A/N? :D **

**See you next time! **

**Juliet**


	8. Chapter 8

_"I hunt for things_  
_that will color my life_  
_with brilliant memories"  
-Evangalina Piñon, "Apprenticeship"_

* * *

I grunted slightly as I struggled to hold the frame for the canvas steady as I pressed another short, flat nail through the fabric into the light wood. My legs were wrapped around it tightly in an effort to keep the rest of the nails from slipping out while I got the last four in. Once all of them were in, it would be fine, but until that point—

"Got it," I muttered, glaring balefully at the last three nicks I'd made in the wood so I knew where to put the final three nails. "You little sons of jackals… Three more! _Three!_" I spat, pointing at them. It took me four minutes to get the rest into the wood to hold the canvas fabric in place, but once I had, I flipped my slightly sweaty bangs out of my face. I stood up and leaned the blank canvas against the wall on the table, then looked around with pride at my latest painting.

It was simple—just a portrait, from the shoulders up. It was a woman, a lady Warrior (no relation, I swear). Her hair was a glistening blue-black, and cut in a short chin-length bob. Dark eyes glared out at the viewer, and they were a super-dark shade of either brown or green; I had put flecks of both in there. Her armor was white, and I abruptly wondered how she kept it clean.

My hand was starting to cramp a bit, so with great reluctance I set down my paintbrush, ran my fingers through my hair, and promptly realized that I had different shades of navy or black on my hand. I grinned helplessly. "Ah, well," I mumbled, "I needed a bath anyway." It was true. Around here, you didn't get to wash that often—every two to three days if you were lucky. For one, it was hard to get the time to get away to clean yourself, and for two, the water was freezing year-round. Also, privacy was a big issue. At the Keep, the majority of the population was nearly all male, so it wasn't like they had the washing place separated into 'men' vs 'women.'

The actual 'luxury bath house' of Oaklore Keep was underground. There was a door on the first floor of the castle that led down a flight of narrow, spiral stairs to a wide, expansive room that had been dug when the castle was, then the inside of the room was lined with stone. It was sturdy, at least. From a stream that branched off the river on the other side of the woods, someone (also when the room was constructed) had dug a channel that led into the Keep itself through a grate at the bottom of the wall on the far side of the gates. It was the Keep's main water source, and the place the icy bathwater came from in several spouts in this room. A small closet that held towels (sometimes not all clean) and soap was on the other side of the room. Then there was a small indent running through the stone on the floor to a tunnel too small for a person (thank Lore) that didn't touch air for over a mile, snaking its way underground to downstream of where the water was channeled into the Keep.

It was ingenious, really. Now, if only they could find a way to warm the water…

After a short debate, I decided that cold running water sounded much better than _no _running water, and reluctantly grabbed my only other change of clothes that went under my armor—a gray v-neck shirt, one of the loose ones with the ties at the V shape, a pair of breeches, and a belt to keep them up. Tailors made pants with men's dimensions in mind, as I had learned quickly.

Hurrying down the staircase, I emerged into the rectangular room of dark stone, remembering how it was lit. A "light well" was used, according to one of the knights—a tube that ran from the ceiling down into the room, and had small mirrors to bounce light all the way down. A small series of mirrors around the corners of the room helped to finish the job, keeping just enough light for someone to see comfortably by, and not be blinded upon leaving.

_Just my luck,_ I thought dryly as I opened the small closet to the left of the staircase to get a towel. _Someone's already here. _As a matter of fact, two people were—two of the knights, chatting. I wasn't surprised. Bathing might not be a frequent occurrence, but there were enough people in the Keep that it didn't go one day without being used.

Back to my current problem, I had learned on my second day here that you don't just wait for them to finish. It would be kind of creepy, just standing there and watching them as they wash, dress, and leave. The best you could do, Maya had told me, would be to keep your back to them and hope they weren't staring or anything. Or getting ideas, for that matter.

But the water was always cold, so there wasn't much cause to worry.

Besides, I had lived in a house with two men growing up, one of whom didn't particularly care if someone saw him changing or showering (my brother). Sometimes, acting like nothing was out of the ordinary was the best option. A lack of modesty could sometimes be a bit of a helpful thing.

Shrugging to myself, I slid my current paint-spotted shirt up and off, then dropped my breeches and underwear and bra directly after. As I pulled the tie out of my braid, I realized I didn't much care if they saw—I cared if they _looked._ But it was blessedly free of any awkward feelings. Going to the spout of water coming out of the wall nearest the corner at a voracious rate, I took a quick breath, then ducked my head under the water that was hurtling towards the floor.

It sounded and felt like a thunderstorm, but the icy temperature of the water still made my chest constrict. After a solid half a minute of holding my breath, I jerked my head back, flipping my soaked bangs out of my face, sucking in a new lungful of air. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the knights with a towel around his waist, shaking his head like a wet dog. _Good, one of them's done,_ I thought, doing my best not to shiver. Shrugging the rest of my darkened blonde hair over my shoulders, I used both hands to push my hair away from my face before putting it under the water again to start scrubbing. I was almost positive that shades of dark blue and black were coming off of my face and hands, but I didn't dare open my eyes against the thundering spray.

When I turned back around to allow my face a break from the freezing water (and to give my back a turn at being beaten half to numbness), the knight I had seen drying off was gone, and the other ran his hand through his short hair under the water a few times before stepping out of the miniature waterfall. I tipped my head back to let the edge of the heavy flow of water push my hair back from my face for me, then started running my hands up and down my arms, torso, under my arms… all the places that typically built up dirt and sweat when you're in a full suit of armor. Over my shoulder, I saw the second knight pull on his breeches and drop a shirt over his head before balling up his towel, throwing it in a corner with the others, and heading up the stairs.

With a contented sigh, I started to do my best in getting the slightly greasy feeling out of my hair, scrubbing mercilessly at my scalp with my fingers. To get my mind off of the freezing water, I let my thoughts wander, and somehow, I ended back up at the morning after returning to the Keep following the bandit's kidnapping. I grimaced automatically.

When I woke up, Maya had been waiting outside the door for me (apparently, Rolith and the next knight under him thought that it might be best for my shock if it was a fellow _woman_ who greeted me—as if that made a difference), and after assuring I was in my right mind, had rapidly dragged me up to the war room on the top floor of the castle, where Sir Preem and his pack of hounds had grilled us both for around two hours about what we had seen in the bandits' camp; who from the bounty list was there (we could only identify Stradar, who was worth 180 gold dead and 200 alive), what they might be planning, and other random bits of information that could potentially be useful.

This was a big deal. It had been almost two years since the last abduction, and the last time that happened, Maya had said, they had launched a full-scale attack on the Keep. Rolith actually had a Mage friend of his come in to help. Near the end, I was beginning to get quite grumpy, as I hadn't eaten since breakfast the day before. Ravenous didn't quite describe it. Actually, it was only when my stomach decided to interrupt the Captain by sounding like a dying whale that he mentioned (much more politely than I could have managed right then) that maybe questioning might resume after a meal. I was practically ready to gnaw off his hand, glove and all, when he had to grab my upper arm and guide me out of the room. Over the late breakfast (or maybe it was lunch—I had woken up fairly late) he explained to me that we would be permitted two days free of duties to recover and get over any shock. A Warrior or knight who was unable to perform their work without screwing it up was worse than it not being done at all, he told me, and I didn't disagree. After all, two days off was two days I could actually clean up, go see my mare, or work on my paintings.

The faint sound of footsteps jerked me out of my reminiscing, and I just barely remembered to turn my back to the doorway before they actually entered the room. Flipping my hair back from my face yet again, I tilted my head to both sides to hurriedly scrub at the junction of my neck and shoulder before curiously looking over to see who came in. Almost immediately, a painful blush rushed up into my cheeks, and I was sure that my blue lips were gone. I looked down and slightly away, towards the corner I was nearest.

_Stupid,_ I mumbled to myself. _Why are you this worried about _him_ seeing you? You were just fine around the other guys in here. So how is Rolith any different? _When I heard him step under one of the spouts of water, I steeled myself to stop being so shy (and _just_ around him, it seemed) and made my legs move. Shifting my shoulders just enough that two wavy sections of dark blonde hair fell over to the front side of my shoulders, giving me some semblance of coverage, I walked quickly over to where I had left my dirty clothes, my change of clothes, and my towel.

_Don't look around, don't look at him, don't even _glance _at him—_

"Oh, hey, Calliope."

_Furry fudgy fish fingers._

"Oh! Rolith!" I chirped, faking surprise as I finally managed to wind my towel around under my arms. At least I was decent now. I had always been fairly adept at faking smiles, even though I didn't make a habit of it, but I didn't see as how I had much choice right then. _Please don't see my cheeks, please don't see my cheeks, please, please, _please _don't see or comment on my cheeks. _Stupid hormones. I would be having a very serious talk with them once I got out of here. Shaking my hair out of my face and back over my shoulders once more, I shot him a quick glance to the face _only_ out of the corner of my eye. Rolith had his back to me, but he was smiling. A peace offering, it seemed.

_Ah, well._

Grinning slightly wider, I raised my right hand and twirled my finger around in a circle—the universal gesture for 'turn around.' I heard a low chuckle come from on his side of the room as he turned his head back around, and after checking again, I hurriedly got into my undergarments, pulled the breeches up and draped the shirt over my head, then belted both together. I jammed my boots on and stuffed the hems of my breeches unceremoniously into the tops of said boots, making sure they would stay. I hesitated, then chucked my towel into the dry corner with the rest of them.

"See you up top!" I managed in what I thought was a fairly untroubled voice before all but bolting for the stairs. Once safely on the other side, I leaned back against the stone wall, tipping my head back. Gritting my teeth, I began to gently bump my head repeatedly against the cold rock, internally chanting, _Stupid, foolish, irresponsible, asinine, witless, dumb—_

"Calliope, you okay?"

Upon opening my eyes, I discovered that Maya was gazing at me with a faintly concerned look. I smiled at her, which seemed to reassure her, and started chattering about something or other as I linked my arm with hers, walking her away from the door. I think I was talking about whether she had any interesting tales to share with me—my mind was otherwise occupied.

_He's a friend,_ I told myself sternly. _So why am I acting like this…?_ Just friends still have a modest side, right? Right. They most certainly don't need to blush when they see each other… bathing… It was just a random moment. We all blush at incredibly random yet inconvenient times, right?! Right! It's happened to girls all over Lore, and it's happened to me exactly… well, once. But that doesn't mean that it meant anything.

It was just a blush, after all… That's all it had to be… It didn't mean anything, it was completely unimportant and unrelated… Right…?

Not right.

Oh, shufflestacks.

"…And supposedly, there's this old myth that around a griffin, you can't tell a lie," Maya continued. Mentally growling at my easily distracted self, I hauled my consciousness back to the present.

"Really?" I asked in surprise, shoving all thoughts of the Captain roughly to the back of my mind to ponder… well, never. "Well… I can think of a few situations where that might be helpful."

"Exactly," Maya said, nodding sagely. "A pet griffin would be pretty cool, actually." As I nodded in agreement, her eyes took on a devilish gleam. "Although… I can only imagine the results if a griffin decided to roost near a village."

"What do you mean?" I asked, slightly confused.

"I mean that there will be many husbands sleeping locked outside at night," she giggled. I didn't respond, the joke taking a second to sink in. I didn't _usually_ have a dirty mind or make dirty jokes.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, things going _click._ Then I started sniggering too, and Maya shook her head at me once before reaching to open the door to her library.

"You're quick," she laughed, closing the door behind me. My chest swelled with false pride. Well, not entirely false, but still.

"Of course. I am the finest lady Warrior Lore has ever seen!" I boasted, barely able to keep my façade from breaking from needing to laugh so badly. However, I just didn't have that much self-discipline, plain and simple. So it was because of this that I broke into a wide grin, and we both collapsed in giggles again.

That was exactly how Rolith found us a good seven or eight minutes later, laughing like hyenas and trying to catch our breath unsuccessfully. I was clinging to the edge of one of the broad, heavy tables, attempting to keep myself off of my knees, and Maya was flopped down in a chair, hand over her middle in an attempt to drag more air into her lungs. My cheeks hurt horribly from smiling so much, but when I looked up to see the Captain looking at us as though we had just grown two heads each, I burst out into another fit of laughter.

"It's contagious!" I gasped as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, just watching us. "Don't get too close, you'll—oomph!" I lost my grip on the edge of the table as I crashed in a very undignified way onto my stomach and elbows on the floor, still snickering. Shaking his head as a grin started to work its way onto his face, Rolith knelt down, grabbed my arms, and hefted me back to my feet. I looked up at him, still grinning from pleasant left-over laughter, and was abruptly struck dumb.

With his hair hanging over his hazel eyes like that, positively sparkling from amusement, it occurred to me—as it had before—exactly what a fantastic painting that would make. Eyes had so much depth, and when there was more than one color (such as with hazel), it just made it doubly so. It was… actually, it was pretty beautiful. And I know guys don't really like any part of themselves being called 'beautiful,' but it was.

That was about when I realized that I was just staring at the Captain, and that his gloved hands were still holding my arms under my elbows, and that mine were resting on his forearms. _Uhh, not good, smile fading, SAY SOMETHING!_

"Can vipers be rabid?" I abruptly asked him, fighting a faint blush. _Funny. Before this, I never blushed…_

"Uh… Well, I don't see why not," Rolith reasoned, looking a bit bewildered. I was faintly aware of Maya watching us both with a gleaming gaze that made me want to defend myself automatically. "Everything can be, I think."

"Yeah," I responded. "But have you ever heard of a rabid reptile…? I mean, honestly?"

"No," he admitted, his grin becoming just a little looser, "But that doesn't mean there aren't any."

"Exactly right!" I exclaimed, putting my pointer finger right up under his nose. Rolith chuckled, gently pushing my bare hand to the side.

"I usually am. I came to say, I'm making a quick trip to Falconreach. Would you like to come along?" I paused briefly, feeling just a little bit shy. _That's really… uncharacteristic for me…_ _So what do I say?_

"Um… yeah, sure," I finally said, a little bit of a cautious smile replacing my usual broad grin. "What's the occasion?"

"Tell you on the way there," he told me in a jaunty tone. "Go get saddled up, I'll meet you at the gates in ten minutes!" My smile widening, I nodded, and darted off towards the stables after a quick goodbye to Maya. The other woman was grinning in a very knowing way, and I decided my best option was just to ignore her.

Eight and a half minutes later, I was excitedly leading my mare to the gates, decked out in her simple black leather tack and a plain (but sturdy) saddle blanket. Around the Keep, for the most part, if something was pretty rather than useful, it was gotten rid of or sold. My gray mare was reading my excitement, and though she kept her head (for which I was extremely grateful), once I was mounted she shifted her weight around her feet a bit more than she usually did.

Personally, even though I had only returned from being abducted the night before last, I was eager to get moving again. I could seldom stay put for long, unless it involved my paintings—then I could sit still for days, assuming nature didn't call. And she always did.

"I'm assuming you're ready?"

Turning my head to look over my shoulder, I grinned delightedly at the Captain, flicking my still-damp bangs out of my eyes. "I've never been to Falconreach before," I confided as he called for the gates to be opened. He shot an incredulous glance at me before urging his stallion into a slow trot. With a smothered giggle, I saw that he still hadn't gotten around to replacing the browband on his bridle, as the rhinestones were still fixed on there.

"You're joking." His voice was unconvinced and doubtful, and frankly, I took offense.

"I resent that…"

"Everyone around here has been to Falconreach at least once!" he exclaimed, reaching behind us as we rode down the left path towards the darker part of the forest. His hammer was tied with breakaway ties to the back of his saddle, and after what happened last time, I didn't blame him for hefting it up onto his shoulder as we rode. Clicking to his bay, Rolith began to canter. The sooner we were through this patch, the better. I wisely stayed quiet as I trailed after him, and kept my eyes open. No, we didn't learn. No, I wasn't the most observant person in the world. But yes, we trusted each other in the case of another ambush.

It was nerve-wracking, eyes flying to every little shadow that so much as twitched. I was in no great hurry to be captured again. My hair was beginning to get very, very irritating—it was falling and slipping all over my shoulders and neck, forcing me to toss it back every time my mare's gait threw it forward.

_As soon as my feet touch the ground again, I'm rebraiding it,_ I thought irritably, even though I knew that I would forget. It was almost like coming across an abandoned chest of gold when the forest began to get light ahead of us, and Rolith gently pulled his bay to a stop on the trail immediately after the trees ended. A knight I had only met once before sat on the wide railing of the bridge, looking up at us as we approached.

"It's no good trying to go across the bridge," he warned. "Another so-called 'hero' flounced in and killed another Hydra. Damn thing busted through the bridge—_again._" Sir Pent's frustrated tone was impossible to miss, and I hid a smile, biting my lip.

"This'll be the eighth—no, _ninth_ time they've had to fix that bridge," Rolith complained, then he turned to me. "Come on, let's head upriver. There's another way across about two miles up."

"Okay," I agreed, tapping my mare's sides when Rolith started his bay out at a quick trot. "You never told me!" I called from behind him over the roar of the water—regrettably, the path was only wide enough for one, and I didn't know where we were going. "Why are we going to Falconreach?"

"I was going to meet up with some old friends," he replied loudly, turning his head a little. "I think you might like to be introduced." I beamed.

"Anything I ought to know about them?" I shouted. "It's usually good to be forewarned if, I don't know, a guy goes psycho every time apples are mentioned or something." I could hear Rolith's chuckle from all the way back here, deep and rumbling.

"Artix and Magiya!" he said cheerfully, moving a bit to the left as the path widened a little bit—enough for me to ride beside him. I gratefully accepted the unspoken invitation without a second thought.

"Do I know them? Who are they? You're not getting out of introducing me. Are they in a Class? Should I have heard of them? Oh, are they together? How—"

"Dammit, take it slow!" Rolith cursed, but a small smile was dancing over his lips. "You've never met them, I don't think, though you may have heard their names from other knights in the Keep. Artix is one of my oldest friends, and he's a Paladin," he continued, "and Magiya is also a good friend of mine. She's a very accomplished Mage—just try not to crush her," he added. "Another thing you might want to know about Magiya…" Rolith trailed off, hesitating.

"Is it a bad thing?" I guessed innocuously. Rolith had replaced his hammer on the back of his saddle now that we were past the danger zone, and he ran his gloved free hand through his dark, golden-toned hair.

"Sometimes," he admitted, glancing over. "She's… blunt. And critical. She's direct and no-nonsense most of the time, and on a bad day she's got a subzero temperature."

"But she's _not_ an ice elf?" I needled. Rolith chuckled, and it made me grin just to hear the sound.

"No, she isn't. I don't _think_," he amended. "She can come off as unfriendly, but she's loyal to her friends, and is a good person. Just, if she seems to insult you, don't be offended; she's like that to just about everybody. She used to be worse, actually," he commented. "But she and Artix are like this—" He broke off to cross two of his fingers here, then went on, "—and they've been through a _lot._ Magiya has more courage and determination than many people give her credit for."

I shifted slightly in my saddle, feeling like I needed to change the subject. _Where did _that _come from?_ "So… what about Artix?"

"He's a hopeless flirt," Rolith responded immediately and without shame. "He's a jokester and chances are he'll try to embarrass either you or Magiya when you meet him. But he's harmless in that respect."

"Gotcha… any subject I should avoid bringing up?" I questioned. Rolith turned the question over for a moment before answering, and when he did, it was a little bit soft, and kind of… sad, almost.

"Magic and how it works," he finally murmured, watching me for a second before looking up. "Here we go."

The somber mood dissipated, I looked in the same direction, and then my heart dropped into my stomach.

"No."

"Calliope, it's just a ferry, and it will take both us and the horses across, now come on."

"No!" I whined, leaning forward to bury my face in the gray neck directly in front of me. "Can't we just try to jump the bridge…?"

"It'll give way under our weight and the horses'. Now come on!"

Four minutes later, Rolith was holding my hair in one hand and the horses' reins in the other, watching with alarm as I bent dangerously over the railing, creating some sounds that—from his reaction—he had never heard before. We were the only passengers on the short, sturdy boat, thankfully. The barge was somewhat steady, but that didn't mean my stomach thought so. It made its opinion disgustingly clear as it decided to empty itself of my breakfast from early that morning—not that there was much to get rid of.

After another long minute of no other sounds coming from over the side, I slowly sank down to sit with my back against the railing, tucking my face into my knees. "Well, that was embarrassing," I mumbled under my breath, wiping the corner of my mouth on the fabric of my sleeve, glad I hadn't worn my armor. I was positive my face was still a bit green. Due to the current and the actual width of the river, apparently, it took almost ten minutes to cross the river and get to the opposing dock.

"Are you okay?" Rolith asked warily, kneeling down. I moved my face just enough to glare up at him with one gray slate-colored eye.

"Drop dead," I grumbled, still feeling out of it. Rolith grinned, but made the extremely sensible choice to just keep his mouth shut until we were properly on the docks again, and I leaned my forehead against a smooth tree trunk until he had finished paying the ferry operator. Mercifully, he didn't even mention my… _avoidance_ of boats and the like, choosing instead to just chatter on, apparently in the hopes of taking my mind off things. We both stayed on foot, me by choice, him simply by agreement. Even though my legs were still a bit shaky, I still preferred walking to the faintly swaying gait of the mare. Even though her gait was much better than a boat or ferry, for the time being, I chose the ground.

"It's only about a five to ten minute walk until we get to the city," he informed me. Making a quiet sound of agreement, I looked up and around. The track we were on was wide and well-used, and the trees were wide-spread all around, allowing shafts of sunlight to pierce the weak canopy.

"What's Falconreach like?" I abruptly asked, looking over at him. I was over my seasickness, and even though I knew he hadn't done the ferry with my reaction in mind, I still wasn't going to let him out of it quite so easily.

"You'll see when we get there," he said cheerfully, earning a glare from me.

"What do Artix and Magiya look like?" I tried again.

"You'll see," he repeated.

_Fine, if you want to play this game…_

"What's your favorite fruit?"

"Y—Uh, oranges…?" he answered carefully, frowning at the change of subject. I beamed.

"Why?"

"Because they can be separated and shared with someone," he replied, dumbfounded. "Also, I like citrus."

"Favorite color?"

"My turn," he objected, and my mood brightened instantly. _He's playing along!_ "Favorite color?"

"You cheat," I grumbled, then thought for a second. "Either… green or gold. Now you." Rolith gave a mock groan of distress, and I elbowed him lightly, grinning widely.

"I guess… A sort of dark gold, or a coppery color," he said after a moment's consideration. "What's your favorite season?"

"Autumn," I answered instantly, taking pride in my choice. "I love all of the warm colors, and it's not so hot outside that you'll die in your armor or sweat through your clothes. Any siblings?" I immediately shot back at him, raising my eyebrows and tossing my bangs out of my eyes again.

"Nope, only child. You?"

"One brother," I said with a warm smile. "He's the best a girl could ask for. Even though I didn't ask for him, technically, but still…"

"Older or younger brother?"

"Ah-ah, my turn," I laughed, then stopped, my gaze riveted on something beyond the trees. "Is _that_ the Guardian Tower?"

Through a patch in the trees, the top of a huge tower was visible to me, and it looked like an eagle had somehow taken up residence _as_ the tower. It was architecturally sound, from what I could see, but all the same, there was a huge hawk head and wings extending from the top of the building. Whoever had built the stone tower had done a good job if they were looking for attention—at the very top, the bird's eyes were hollowed out so that it looked like its gaze followed you everywhere. Overall, though, it was… kinda majestic.

"Gee, do you think the architect was looking for a little attention?" I asked sarcastically, quoting part of my thoughts. I had finally gotten the hang of not saying my thoughts out loud around Rolith—it could easily lead to bad situations.

"Not at all," he laughed, then pointed ahead along the path. "The gates are right up there. Artix and Magiya should be waiting for us a little past the inn." Smiling just a little wider, I picked up my pace.

"Oh, and I wasn't kidding earlier," I declared, shooting Rolith a sparkling sideways glance. "I've never been to Falconreach!" Ignoring Rolith's disbelieving and frustrated huff, I started laughing, and broke into a run towards the gates. Sputtering lightly, my mare took a faster pace, trotting after me. A second later, I could hear Rolith and his stallion do the same, and I laughed, back in good spirits. Nothing can keep me down for long.

* * *

**Yikes, that was a long chapter. O.o Truth is, I wrote all of it in about a week, and I'm really happy with how most of it came out. ^^ My apologies for being a day late, school complications took priority!**

**So as you can see, although this fic is not by any means centered around Artix and Magiya, like I said, they are going to show up! :D Also, don't be fooled—the trouble with the bandits isn't over yet! B) Our stars still have a way to go! I don't cut them any slack—what they **_**do **_**manage to get out of, they do on their own! That's a good practice for a story, now that I think about it…**

**Now, reviews!**

**Ellexinda: **_Believe it or not, I actually had to rewrite two of the sections of that scene four times. Each. xD I tried to make it funny but serious at the same time (not easy), and by the sound of it, my efforts paid off! I was feeling frisky after teasing one of my guy friends, and my daily attitudes have a tendency to transfer over to whatever I'm writing, I'm afraid.  
I can't tell you how incredibly thrilled I am that you're noticing and enjoying certain details that I put in on purpose! It makes my day when readers- when ANYBODY- notices these. (That's part of what draws me to my current sister-friends.) The funny bit about the color section is that I know someone who's a very... _avid _painter, and it's thanks to him that I have most of my color knowledge. xD  
As for the bandits... they're the main antagonists. Their role in this story isn't over just yet!_

**MusicalPoetess: **_You're better now, though, yes? :P And with the "daring escape" scene, I was honestly planning to make it longer and draw it out into a chase... but a) I got lazy and b) how could the knights get the gates open and shut quickly enough to let our protagonists in and not the bandits? They don't have enough brains to know to not head in! They're like flies with the glowy light!  
*glomp* Nobody's gonna MAKE you learn Russian... learning it against your will is less fun. LESS. _

**Tune in to the next chapter next month! :) Commercials are sponsored by school, need for sleep, and busy life! Thanks again for reading, and remember that reviews are always appreciated! ^^**

**See you then!**

**Juliet**


	9. Chapter 9

_I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.  
__~Fortune Cookie_

* * *

We must have looked just a bit odd to the two Guardians (I assumed they were, judging by the differences in armor between a knight or these guys) on guard duty for these gates, running for the walls through the sparse trees with two perfectly good horses jogging after us. If I were in their place, I know I would probably ask why they weren't riding if they had two fresh horses in their possession. Nonetheless, they observed us with amused smiles, waving us through. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Rolith give the Guardians a sort of two-fingered wave, so I guessed they were familiar with each other. It would make sense, anyway.

As soon as we were through the gates, I slowed to a walk and started peering up and around at everything. In a way, it reminded me of… well, a _big_ version of the small village that I had grown up in, just… less superstitious. And bigger. A _lot_ bigger. Along the main road (it had changed from a path into… a street, I guess) on the left, I saw two small buildings next to each other, with a well sitting between them. On both there were identical signs, except for the words; one said 'Mana,' and the other said 'Health.'

"Potions?" I guessed, turning my head to Rolith, who had come up on my right. He nodded an affirmation.

"They've been planning to set up a Mana shop for years," he confided, "But they've never done it. It's more for show than anything else—Reens runs the Health shop, and she takes care of both ends of it."

"Gotcha."

"We came in the West gate," the Captain explained to me, jerking his free thumb back the way we had come. I nodded to him, appreciating the tour-guide attitude. I had never been here before, after all, and I wanted to know everything I could. Pointing ahead on the main road, he continued, "The town square—if you could call it that—is up ahead. It's where the inn and the weapons shop is, and there are three other ways to go. We're going straight."

"Okay," I acknowledged, grinning. I loved learning. As we reached the crossroads, I witnessed a kid who couldn't have been older than 16 kneeling, talking to some red… creature. "Um… Rolith…" I pointed mutely at the knee-high red animal with batlike ears and a stick with a leaf on the end.

"Morning Ash, Twilly!" he called over upon seeing them, while I stared in confusion at the small dark red individual that was barely a foot and a half tall. I know it's not supposed to be polite to stare, but I couldn't help myself. I'd never seen anything like it. Both looked over, and hurried over to us, starting to smile. The teenager had short, ruffled brown hair and warm, matching eyes. He had a sword that looked too big for him tucked into his belt, and I couldn't help a smile. The little red animal almost bounced over, and I jerked my chin back in puzzlement.

"Excuse me," I said politely, keeping my mare's reins in my left hand as I kneeled down to be at its eye level, "What kind of creature are you? I can't say I've ever seen anything like you before," I added, tilting my head.

"It's fine!" it all but chirped, waving its tiny staff around. "I'm Twilly!"

"Twilly's a moglin," the teenager chipped in.

"Oh!" I realized. I'd heard of them in stories here or there back home, but (up until now) I had never seen one. I curiously shook the little creature's paw, then stood back up with a questioning look at the boy. "You're not something other than human, are you?"

"No," he laughed.

"You do get a lot of them around here, though," Rolith chuckled.

"I'm Ash," the kid introduced.

"Calliope," I announced to both, shaking the boy's gloved hand.

"Twilly's a moglin that specializes in healing, and Ash is training to become a knight," Rolith told me and the aforementioned two nodded, confirming his comments. "I'm taking her to meet Artix and Magiya," Rolith told them, a gleam in his eye. It made me slightly uncomfortable when Ash snickered, and Twilly joined in with his own odd giggles.

"Not sure that's a good thing," I muttered to Rolith, raising my eyebrows. "Are you sure there isn't anything I still need to know about those two?"

"Nothing you won't find out by talking to them," he said with a perfect poker face. After bidding Ash and Twilly goodbye, Rolith gave a small jerk of his head towards the direction we had originally been heading, and I jogged after him.

"Serenity's inn," he said, pointing over his shoulder at a large, two-story building we had passed a moment ago, "And Lim's weapon shop. …You'll probably want to stay out of there." The names flew in one ear and out the other, but I caught his last instruction.

"Why?" I asked unavoidably. Rolith sighed, and I grinned unrepentantly.

"Lim's a scientist. Not only is it dangerous to be anywhere _near_ it, but he can be very… uh…"

"Creative?" I stressed. Rolith nodded emphatically.

"That's good. Let's go with that." I laughed, and peered back at a branch off the main road we had passed that went between the inn (if I was remembering correctly) and the building we were now going by—the scientist's shop? "Where does that lead?" The Guardian Tower stretched up above it on a tall and treacherous hill, and I wondered how all of the materials to build it had gotten carted up there.

"To the docks and to the tower," Rolith replied, weaving around a pair of farmers with their hands full. "It's a hike to get up to the tower, though."

"Doesn't look too bad."

"Not until you're actually there," he chuckled, running his fingers through his hair. I shrugged, looking ahead on the road. We passed a few more buildings, one of which was a stone arch with doors that led to nowhere. I got goosebumps just passing it, and gave it a wide berth. Rolith noticed and smiled. "Smart. That's Cysero's shop… it explodes. Frequently."

"I think I might like to meet him," I pondered. "Calliope like big boom. _Big_ boom."

"I'll keep that in mind… and tell him not to give you any nitroglycerin sponges."

"Any what?"

"Never mind," Rolith muttered, ruefully rubbing the back of his head. "Maybe I shouldn't have told you that."

"_Rolith!_"

His head snapped up, and a wide grin spread across his features. It made his eyes light up in the most mesmerizing way, and I had to remind myself that there was someone who caused that reaction in him. Looking over towards a building with a pawprint sign above the door, I saw two people waving—one much more energetically. If he hadn't been in full armor, I would have guessed he wasn't an adult yet. The other was a slimmer dot of dark purple right beside the armored guy.

Judging by the way I abruptly had to start running to keep up with Rolith as he made a beeline for these two people, these were Artix and Magiya. I reached the same place to see Rolith embracing the other man, slamming him mercilessly on the back before pulling away. And just for a heartbeat, it struck me how unusually well all of the elements of this particular view worked together, and I filed away the memory of seeing two guys, a girl, and a giant bay stallion underneath the awning of a pet shop, smiling. The sky was blue, the walls were pale (providing contrast needed for the armor and robe), and the shapes all worked. Then the man glanced from Rolith to me, and I was abruptly jerked off my feet and back to reality. It took a moment to see past the messy brown hair, though.

"Calliope," Rolith said cheerfully, "This is Artix von Krieger. He's a Paladin."

"That explains the armor," I remarked, shaking his hand. From his shake, he was trying not to crush my hand. Personally, I didn't much care. I tried to squish his. With the armored gloves, it didn't work well, but he apparently felt it, because he grinned widely. His eyes—copper-colored, with just a faint underlying shade of chocolate—gleamed, and he reminded me of a jester or a trickster that had stopped through my home town every year. I snickered, blowing my bangs out of my eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Callie," he said with a wide grin (I let the nickname slide), then half-turned his face towards the woman who stood… well, a little out of the circle. From her expression, I didn't think she was the kind of woman who laughed much. She looked a little too serious. Magiya, did Rolith say her name was?

"And this is Magiya," Rolith announced with a smile. As I shook her hand (somewhat gingerly—she didn't seem very strong, and I feared I would crush her), she offered a small smile that looked a little hesitant, or wary, or something. It made me want to just hide her away from the world. She had dark coffee-grounds-brown hair that had an uneven cut across her eyes, and it tumbled in waves over her shoulders. She also carried a giant wooden stick that I assumed was her staff. But behind her hair, dark blue eyes glinted calculatingly—too much for me to be entirely at ease.

"Hi," I said warmly, smiling normally. Magiya nodded once slightly as she shook my hand, then let her own drop.

"She got mad at me on the way over here," Artix explained cheerfully to both Rolith and me. "She'll be a little quiet for an hour or so. But she's cute when she's mad," he added with a good-natured shrug. His smile never diminished.

Magiya, however, didn't even twitch, but for a venomous glare sent the Paladin's way. _She doesn't seem very outgoing,_ I thought, until the next words out of her mouth stopped that thought dead in its tracks.

"Yeah, well, I'm about to get real fucking adorable," she spat, her upper lip curling a bit.

I jerked my head back as I covered my mouth with my free hand (my other being occupied by my mare's reins), trying not to bust out laughing. But despite my best efforts, a small giggle escaped. Glancing over, I saw Rolith had his poker face on again, and I realized belatedly that this was his way of not laughing. It was _too_ perfect.

_This is what he meant,_ I thought as I managed to get a straight face. Magiya looked absolutely livid, and Artix looked amused. _This is _normal _for them. I like them already. _

"If it helps, you look pretty today," Artix complimented with a charming (and slightly crooked) grin, cupping her face with one hand. Magiya promptly batted it away, but it didn't have any effect. Nonetheless, he dropped it, getting the point.

"Oh, so was I ugly yesterday?"

"Not at all. You're gorgeous every day," he replied, ignoring her earlier action and wrapping his arms around her waist. At this point, Magiya practically turned into a Tasmanian devil, almost screeching and pushing with all she had on his chest to get him off. It wasn't much—she had about as much power behind her pushes as a bag of cotton.

"What the—Get away from me! I'm still mad at you, you handsome bastard!"

"Oh, so I'm handsome?"

"What—no! Go away!"

By this point, I was positively gasping for breath, leaning against Rolith for support. Even my best attempts at not laughing had failed miserably, and Rolith was in a similar state, trying to maintain what dignity he had left as he laughed helplessly.

"They fight like cats and dogs," he confided unnecessarily, grinning widely at me. I smiled back in delight, and my heart (already racing from giggling so much) sped up even more. I nodded in agreement, slightly stunned, before turning my head back to Artix and Magiya's argument. They had progressed to where she was blaming him for whatever it was that had happened earlier, it seemed.

"I wasn't mad. Then you asked me _seven times_ if I was mad. Well, _now_ I'm mad!"

"I can see that, but… babe, you were actually _counting?_"

"Hell yes I was!" she hissed, furious. Artix still had his arms locked around her, but she had given up trying to push him away, and was up in his face by this point. "Every single fucking time you—"

The broad-shouldered Paladin effectively cut her off with a kiss mid-sentence, and I quietly clapped my hand over my mouth, trying my hardest not to make a sound. I nudged Rolith with my elbow and raised my eyebrows, and he nodded, grinning.

"You should have seen how long it took to get them together," he muttered in my ear, and I had to choke another giggle down. "They've been through a lot."

Artix finally pulled his head back, letting the slim Mage in his arms breathe. By the looks of it, he had been forceful enough that she was tilted back just enough that she needed his arms to stay upright. Magiya glared indignantly at him, then finally huffed, patting her palm against his breastplate.

"Let me up, fucknut."

"Colorful," he approved, gracefully straightening with her. I noticed that, for all she was flushed and angry, she didn't try to break his grip again. I raised my eyebrows, grinning.

"I see what Rolith meant when he said you two were different," I chirped, running my fingers through my bangs to push them back from my face—again.

"Well, that's one way to put it," Artix responded shamelessly, maneuvering so he had his left arm wrapped securely around Magiya's hips. Almost inadvertently, she nudged her shoulder under his arms, gazing at us curiously. _Well, _she _seems to be in a better mood._ Her dark blue eyes flicked down my body from head to toe, and I got the feeling that I was being analyzed. When her line of sight finally rose to meet mine, she tilted her head.

"You're a painter," she said calmly, as though she were commenting on the color of the sky today. I blinked. I had bathed this morning, so there couldn't have been any paint in my hair or on my hands… how did she know that?

"How do you know?" I questioned, parroting my thoughts. I wasn't unnerved, exactly, but she was… observant. It was unusual.

"The calluses on your hands," she indicated my right hand, "You're a scribe, a writer, or a painter. Scribes would have a stronger less dominant arm, from holding a tablet or clipboard, and a writer would have stronger wrist muscles. You have thin wrists, but calluses on your hands aside from the ones you get from wielding a sword. Conclusion, painter."

I said nothing for a minute, staring at her. Rolith eyed me, apparently curious to see how I would react. Artix looked calm, but I couldn't see his expression well. Mirroring Magiya, I tilted my head the same way as she straightened hers.

"That…" I said slowly, blinking, "Was the most amazing thing I've ever seen." Immediately, a shy, surprised smile flitted across her lips, and I responded with a shadowless grin. "I like you!" I declared, nodding decisively as I beamed. "Come, let's leave the menfolk to their talk of boring things!" I said theatrically, holding out my hand. Her smile fading slightly to be replaced with curiosity, she shed Artix's arm to follow me. I draped my mare's reins over Rolith's shoulder, called for him to keep an eye on her, and skipped alongside Magiya as she walked down the main street.

"Take care of her, Callie!" I heard Artix call from where we had left the guys and the horses.

"Name's not Callie!" I called right back.

"Don't need taken care of!" Magiya hurled a last parting shot over her shoulder at her beau, and I couldn't help the smirk. I heard Rolith chuckling—a deep sound that should have been felt, not heard—and mentally considered the new nickname. _Meh, it could be worse._

When we got out of earshot of the guys, I returned to a normal walk, and turned to the Mage.

"That was really, really cool!" I exclaimed, grinning. She regarded me as she might a new creature—not quite sure what to expect, but reasonably open. "Where'd you learn how to do that?"

Magiya was apparently content to let me chatter as we walked, but she seemed just a little bit fascinated. By the Eastern gates (or so she told me), we sat down and just talked. This conversation was less one-sided (if only a little), and I was thrilled that she was participating. The conversation flew from one topic to another to yet another, and anything was possible.

"Wait, so you use sarcasm daily?"

"_No,_" she scoffed, eyes half-lidded. I caught it a little late.

"… Not fair. That's not nice!"

"I wasn't born to be nice!" she muttered playfully. For all that she seemed friendly _now_, I couldn't help but think I was getting a sort of guarded vibe from Magiya. I was usually completely clueless about this kind of thing, so for _me_ to be able to feel it… had she been through a lot…? Apparently. I wasn't going to push anything—after all, insisting wouldn't help anything. "I'm sarcastic and have a smart-ass attitude," she continued calmly, as if she were explaining how trees grew. "It's a natural defense against drama, bullshit, and stupidity…"

No sooner were these words out of her mouth than I realized what a dry, cynical, and absolutely brilliant sense of humor Magiya had. I started grinning widely, nodding. "You're careful, aren't you?" I asked, resting my cheek on my hand. I was glad I had chosen to go without my armor today—it was more comfortable without it. But the question I asked was a serious one, lacking of any of my usual playfulness or cheery attitude.

In response, Magiya hesitated, then nodded once. "That's one word for it," she finally murmured, brushing her long, face-framing brown hair out of her face and behind her ear. It was a simple gesture, but it was similar enough that I smiled. However, her dark blue eyes seemed more careful than before, more… _watchful_, I guess would be the word for it. _Time for a change of subject._

"How did you meet Artix?" I asked her curiously, my eyes gleaming. Magiya tucked her chin towards her neck as she looked down, fiddling with her nails. She took a long time to answer, and I can't say that I waited patiently—I just wasn't a patient person, for the most part. Several times, she opened her mouth as if she were going to speak, then took her words back at the last moment.

"When I first met Artix," she started quietly, so low I almost had to strain to hear her, "I… I hated him. He was a cheerful, womanizing asshole… he was everything I stayed away from. But he saved me, and that was the first time I ever saw him."

"Go on," I encouraged when she faltered. If I didn't know better—and I really didn't—I would almost say she looked… guilty. It was odd for me, being able to identify so many things just from someone's expression. But from what I could tell, Magiya didn't talk about how she felt overly much, and left most of the talking to her expression and body language. She was everything but an open book, and it would take time to decipher her expressions.

"I got stunned in the Hydra Caves," Magiya admitted. "And… he saved me. After that, I started acting like a rude, ungrateful bitch—which I am—and did all I could to stay away from him and _not_ like him. As you can see, it didn't work out that way," she added dryly, "But … things had to get worse before they could get better, I guess." I nodded thoughtfully.

"Makes sense," I commented, before making a little hand gesture to get her to continue.

"I…" Here, she stopped, and bit her lip—hard. Her eyes flicked around, and I started getting a trapped air from her. So I backed off.

"Sorry," I apologized, offering a small smile. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"It's… fine," she said haltingly. "It's just… a long story." I smiled again. I knew that excuse.

"Stick to that story!" I advised cheerfully. "But remember… sometimes the memories are worth the pain."

"Some definitely are," she agreed, a little more at ease. "It's just hard figuring out which ones those are. Like mine with Rolith and Artix. Those are worthwhile ones. And that reminds me—how did _you _meet Rolith?" For almost no reason at all, I felt a blush trying to force its way into my face, and I looked up at the sky as if I were thinking to try and cover it up.

"Well… do you consider 'meet' to be officially introduced, or 'meet' as in first saw each other?"

"The second."

"Well… I may or may not have passed out after killing a Gorillaphant," I said, looking down in shame. "He's the one who brought me back to the Keep."

"So… you got knocked out by the thing, and what? He carried you back? Did you even see him?"

"Eh… not exactly," I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck. I froze when I realized that it was the same gesture the Captain used. _Oh, duster._ "I… um…"

"Spit it out," Magiya said impatiently. I bit my lip.

"I… pretty much faint when I see my own blood," I said in one breath, burying my face in my hands. But somehow, that didn't stop my mouth from moving on its own. "I know it's completely impractical to be a Warrior when you see your _own_ blood, and that you might as well just sit at home and do household chores or something, but my dad and mum both told me to go after what I wanted, no matter what was trying to stop you, so I wanted to be a Warrior, a _great_ lady Warrior, a hero, and then it turns out that I pass out when I see my own blood, so how does that even work? It's like being allergic to water, or a brush that falls apart when it touches paint—"

"But you're a Warrior now," Magiya interrupted. I opened my mouth to say something else, but got cut off again. "You're a Warrior _now_. Not then. _Now._"

I closed my mouth after a second, my brows lowering as I puzzled over her words. _A Warrior _now._ Now, as opposed to… what? Past? Wait…_

"You're a Warrior _now_, because you didn't let that keep you down," Magiya told me matter-of-factly. I tilted my head.

"I never thought of it that way."

"I didn't think you had."

"… Not nice."

"I'm well aware."

"Then what are _you_ scared of?" I demanded, throwing my hands up. I couldn't help the mischievous smile that automatically spread across my lips, though. Throwing a quick glance towards the street, as if she was worried someone might overhear, she leaned in a little bit.

"Horses," she shivered, and I noticed how the dark blue shades of her eyes seemed to shift over into a faintly lighter color. This lighter blue was a bit more of an icier tone, and if I was being honest, scared me a little bit. Then her words sunk in.

"Horses?" I repeated, blinking several times.

"Horses."

"But… horses?"

"Yes, horses!" she snipped, sounding faintly annoyed. I shouldered it off.

"But… they're amazing animals. How are you scared of them?" I asked in complete confusion. I had never met anyone who was afraid of horses. It just didn't exist, in my own little world.

"They're animals that weigh more than 2000 pounds and could split someone's skull with one kick," she said flatly, leaving me dumbfounded. "Bites can take chunks out of your arms. If they even _turn_ suddenly, you fall off."

"Look," I told her softly, jerking out of my surprise and pulling her closer, "Do one thing for me. Just one." She looked doubtful and irritated, but before she could pull away, I lowered my voice even more. "Let a horse whisper in your ear and breathe on your heart. You will _never _be the same."

Magiya's eyes flickered between hesitation, confusion, and stubbornness. Hoping she would at least think about it, I released her and leaned against the wall, gazing up at the cloud-dotted sky. "How long have you actually known Rolith?" I asked curiously, changing the subject gracelessly.

"About… three—no, four years," she corrected herself, still frowning a bit. I got the impression that she scowled a lot. "He's always at the Keep. Even when he was offered a chance to be based in Falconreach, he turned it down. I guess Oaklore Keep must be worth staying at."

"_I _would definitely say my entire experience at the Keep was worth it," I mused. "It's an amazing place, even though it looks small. And when the light reflects off the stone, it's absolutely gorgeous. Even the whole thing with the bandits was worth it." At a questioning glance from Magiya, I elaborated. "Rolith and I got knight-snatched the other day. Bandits came and pretty much knocked us off our horses, bundled us away to their camp, and were stupid enough to leave us without a guard. We got away," I told her cheerfully and unnecessarily.

I swear, I almost saw the blood vanish from her face. Her skin tones lightened significantly, and I thought briefly about the changes in shade. Then she scowled. The change was so instantaneous that I blinked, pulling my head back a bit as she stood. Her face looked like a thunderstorm, complete with little bits of lightning crackling around her arms—

Wait, _what?_

I looked with alarm as she jerked her chin in an obvious gesture of 'follow me,' and saw small sparks flying off of her sleeves. Then I noticed that the sleeves led to a Mage's robe, and my surprise at the appearance of the magic was quickly put to rest. That didn't mean I wasn't careful not to touch her as I trailed after her, back to where the men talked—while holding the horses, in Rolith's case. Both huge mammals flicked their ears and eyed Magiya warily as she stalked up to Rolith, his breastplate making a hollow ringing sound as her finger impacted with it. Rolith yelped, one of the sparks hitting his armor and racing through all of the metal and him in a heartbeat. I raised both eyebrows.

"You jackass!" she snarled, sounding like she might grow fangs at any moment. "You go and get yourself kidnapped, and you don't even _bother_ telling me about it! You could have been _dead_ for all we knew!"

A slightly nervous whicker from one of the horses was apparently enough to ground her, and the Mage cast a fearful glance towards the horses (and a deadly one towards the Captain) before backing towards Artix.

"Dipshit," she spat, crossing her arms. Artix ran a gloved hand up and down her outside arm almost absently as he lifted one eyebrow at Rolith and me.

"What's this I hear about Warrior-napping..?"

"To start with, we all seem to have a different word for it," I offered, taking the reins to my mare back from Rolith and proceeding to loosen her girth.

Artix chuckled lightly—I noticed randomly that even though it _was_ deep, it was still a little higher than the Captain's—then ran his free hand through his hair, the other still around Magiya. I wondered if it was as much for her comfort as it was to keep her from strangling Rolith. Not that she could, I mean. She didn't have much strength in that petite frame.

"We got ambushed," Rolith explained to Artix with a shrug, rubbing the back of his neck. Magiya rolled her eyes. I grinned as I pushed my bangs back, running a hand down my mare's neck, placing her between me and the others.

"You still need a name," I whispered in her ear, and she snorted. Sometimes I wondered if some animals could understand us better than we could. Well, it would explain a lot of things.

"And I helped get us out," I finished for Rolith, since he had fallen short, evidently trying to figure out how to continue. "We found our horses, and _boom_, headed for home!"

"Their security's gotten pretty lax," Artix noticed. Rolith nodded.

"Even for them, it has," he agreed. "It was a little surprising."

"So were you when you had to reach under my skirt," I muttered, not bothering to look around my mare's neck. There was a moment of dead silence, and when I dared to peek over the dappled gray back, I found three pairs of eyes staring—one with humor, one with incredulity, and the last with exasperation.

"You conveniently left out that little jewel," Artix challenged. I recognized the same tone that I usually carried—trying not to laugh at the expense of others. It was surprisingly difficult. I snickered, trying (unsuccessfully) to hide the sound in the mare's broad, muscled shoulder. Trying not to start giggling like a maniac, I stood on my toes to look over the coarse gray mane, continuing.

"I had a dagger under the skirt of my armor… I couldn't reach it," I sniggered. "Complete truth, and nothing to be ashamed of," I told Rolith cheekily. His shocked, exasperated hazel glance turned my way, and I ducked behind the thick gray neck as a small giggle escaped my lips. I could hear Artix laughing too, and even an amused chuckle that sounded like Magiya. When I next heard his voice, it was too easy to imagine him looking skywards, as if for help.

"Why am I a magnet for people like these?" he asked the clouds helplessly.

"Bite me," Magiya hissed in his direction.

* * *

**Another long chapter! :D Looks like the twice-a-month thing is working out well for this story! (Unlike another thing I just so happen to suffer through…) Long chapters are always good! And frankly, I can think of more than one person in RL who would worship me if I could put these chapters up faster and at the same length. xD**

**But anyway. Reviews!**

**Ellexinda: **_Bah, I had finals too. They really suck. :P I've heard about (and come across) those all-gender bathing rooms, but not organized like that and I've never had the displeasure of going through the experience. ^^ I just don't do well with that kind of stuff.  
I'm really glad you're enjoying the fanfiction, and I hope you enjoy it for months to come. :)__ I agree with you 100% on the minor characters being given a role. It's really heartwarming to see. _

**MusicalPoetess:** _I'm already learning German. Get your butt in gear! (And the rhyme wasn't THAT god-awful...)_

**I know it seems like the chapter ended just a little abruptly, but I swear, it was the perfect stopping place. :) Where we pick up next time, it fits just right. Not too far forward, not too far back, and it's perfect. **

**And I hope to god I'm not turning into Goldilocks. **

**I read something extremely funny the other day when scrolling through my deviantart! It made me laugh for… oh, a good four minutes, I think:**

"_Most yaoi fics are what I like to call Old Yeller fics. They start out with a good idea, but after a while it just all goes to hell, and then it's time to take it out to the back yard and shoot it in the head. Tragic, but necessary."_

**If you want to know what it's from, go ahead and search that phrase into your favorite search engine! :) Be warned—there's a bit of language. xD But it wouldn't be right without it, that much is true!**

**Until next time, my freaky darlings!**

**Juliet**


	10. Chapter 10

_"Sentimental? No, I meant semi-mental."  
~Jamie Hyneman, Mythbusters_

* * *

After another round of jibes (aimed mostly at Rolith, until Artix started to wonder why it was that I had a dagger there in the first place), Magiya and I ended up talking on the other side of my mare while the guys chatted and caught up on the other side.

"I still need a name for her," I remarked to the Mage, patting the mottled neck. "Any ideas…?"

"You're the painter, don't you have any suggestions?" she wondered dryly. I smiled ruefully.

"I was thinking maybe Contesse?" I suggested hopefully.

"That's great," Magiya said in a caustic tone, "But if you called her from across the Keep or something, how long would it take to say? Do you have a nickname that fits?"

"Tessa," I told her promptly. Mutely, she motioned to my mare, who had angled both ears back to listen to us when I had said the moniker. "Ding ding, do we have a winner?" I asked the beautiful equine, moving so I could hold her huge head and stroke the spiral of hair on her forehead. Magiya kept her distance. "Contesse it is, then," I purred, brushing her forelock back.

"So," the other woman finally said, sounding more serious than I'd yet heard her. Startled by this, I turned my head towards her, and found myself confronted by a pair of brilliantly scintillating dark blue irises. "… You and Rolith."

"Rolith and me?" I echoed, puzzled as I left Tessa's head to face Magiya. Briefly, I admired Artix's nerve for choosing this particular lady to pursue, because at the moment, she looked absolutely lethal. Not mad… just curious and… was that excitement?

"You like him," she stated calmly, her voice not matching the expression I saw.

"What?!" I exclaimed, jerking my head back. My eyes were wide, I could feel them, and I fought as hard as I could against the heat that was threatening to flood my face. "No! I—I mean—I—no—it's not—no!" I finally spluttered out, arms rigid at my sides.

Magiya laughed, and it was a pretty laugh. When she smiled like that, I guess I could see why Artix chased her. Aesthetically, that is. Casting a slightly frantic glance over Tessa's withers to see if the men heard, I saw they still talked and laughed. Biting my lip viciously, I shot a wide-eyed glare that wasn't even _close _to effective at the Mage. It felt more like a plea than anything. Magiya coughed a quieter laugh, her eyes sparkling.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," she chuckled, and I ran a hand through my hair in frustration, pausing when I realized it was exactly the same motion the Captain used. Magiya's eyes glinted again, and I guessed that she had seen it too.

"Look, just—please promise me you won't tell anyone!" I begged quietly, twisting my hands together almost painfully. "It… it won't help him at all to be in a relationship with an—an underling!" I whispered, blurting out the first explanation I could think of as I buried my face in my hands. "We're just friends. We're _just_ friends. _Just friends._"

"Who are you trying to convince?" Magiya retorted, raising an eyebrow. I sighed as I leaned back against Tessa's shoulder, tipping my head back to stare up at the sky.

"I… we're… it's… just friends…" I mumbled helplessly, despite my failed internal (and external) attempts to convince myself that we were otherwise. "And… promise you won't tell?" I implored in a low tone, holding out my little finger. I know it seems juvenile, but… well, normal promises can be broken. It's a universal rule that you don't break pinkie promises. It's not that you want to, it's just… you _don't_. That just doesn't happen. Looking amused, Magiya linked her left pinkie finger with mine, and I threw everything else out in a rush.

"I never expected to like him. We _are_ friends, but I think that friends are all he wants to be, he's never even mentioned anything further, so I have no reason to think that he likes me—not like that, I mean, and I don't know if I'm _supposed_ to like him, because we're friends, and if I _say_ that I like him, I could really screw things up, and then I wouldn't be able to look him in the eye _ever again,_ and things would be really awkward whenever I see him again, and I don't want that to happen, and not to mention it won't do his reputation any good if it becomes known that he's gotten involved with a subordinate!"

Directly after finishing this extra-long sentence, I dropped my face into my hands again and pulled in a slightly shuddering breath, my fingertips seeming glued to the roots of my golden-blonde hair. I was ready to hear the judgment in Magiya's voice, all of the disappointment and reprimanding I expected. So it came as a shock to me when I heard a quiet, coughed chuckle that seemed to be her trademark giggle.

"It's about time he found somebody," was all she she murmured, shouldering her dark waves around her neck. I stared silently, caught between a little bit of shock and mild confusion.

"You… you're not upset or anything?" I asked her in a voice that was just shy of a whisper. "I mean… he's your best friend…"

"And he's your friend too," she told me bluntly under her breath, watching me quite seriously. Puzzled, I felt backwards with my hand until I could feel Tessa's warm, dense shoulder muscle. Just the solid feeling of my mare brought me comfort, and I bit my lip.

"But what if I mess up?" I breathed, looking up hopelessly.

"Calliope!"

"Speak of the devil," Magiya sighed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms as Rolith's dark gold head popped up over my saddle.

"It'll take us a little over an hour to get back to the Keep, and the mess hall will be full for dinner by the time we get there. Ready to head back?" I hesitated, true worry overtaking my expression for a minute.

"Well… will we have to take the ferry again..?" I asked uncertainly, frowning. Rolith's eyes dawned in comprehension, and I almost laughed out loud. As it was, it brought a grin back to my face.

"I didn't think about that," he admitted. Magiya scoffed, quickly providing a rejoinder.

"You're a thick-headed knight. You _wouldn't_."

"I'm a Captain."

"Still a meat head."

"I resent that."

"I know."

The insulting banter made me giggle, and Rolith appeared to gather control of his thoughts again as Artix chuckled, stepping around Contesse to slide an arm around Magiya's waist. For all that they had been arguing earlier, I noticed she didn't protest.

Rolith likely remembered the events from earlier, and while I didn't think he needed any prompting, it's been shown time and time again that what I think and what others think aren't even close to similar. Granted, there were those few times when I was right, but that didn't happen often.

"It's still not a good idea for me to take the ferry," I reminded him anyway, "Not unless you feel like holding my hair back again. Honestly, I'm not in a hurry to go home, why don't we take the long way 'round? There's got to be another bridge somewhere, right?" I asked with just a tad of desperation.

"About a half a day's trip northwards," Rolith told me grimly. "We can't take that long." I bit my lip.

"I really don't want to throw up again," I mumbled, suddenly finding my feet incredibly interesting. I guess I was a little bit weak with that… but it was horrible, really. Your face broke into a cold sweat, and it feels like your stomach is trying to fly out through your mouth while your heart is dropping to your feet. All you can really do is hope that you make it to the edge in time.

"We don't have any other options," Rolith concluded apologetically. "I mean, if you want, we can find something to tie your hair back with… but the only bridge that we could take is out."

Resigning myself to another miserable ten minutes sometime in the future, I stuck next to Rolith and put on a happy smile as we bade Magiya and Artix goodbye. The sun was already starting to disappear behind the Guardian Tower, and the shadows were growing longer. My stomach would have rumbled, but the approaching doom it was to suffer quieted it significantly.

"Let's go," I sighed as we turned back down the street. Most of the people had gone home, but there was still the odd traveler headed for the inn. The little red moglin and Ash had vanished from their posts, but I had the feeling they would be there tomorrow morning. Rolith glanced at me, and I raised my eyebrows.

"You sure you're going to be alright?"

"Don't have much of a choice, do I?" I responded grimly. "Then again, it could be worse…"

"True."

The ferryman was watching me warily as Rolith paid for our pass across the river again, and I eyed him with a similar expression. Using a cord in my pocket, I resignedly tied my honey-blonde hair back in a loose plait, already feeling my stomach start to roll just by watching the fast-flowing water. I chewed on my lip uncomfortably as the ferryman dropped the small walkway onto the dock, and sucked a deep breath in through my mouth as I leaned back against Tessa's shoulder. She stood there resolutely, seeming somehow to know that she was my anchor to consciousness right now… no pun intended.

I had no clue where my seasickness came from. Usually, there's a reason for this stuff, like some kind of childhood disaster… mine stemmed from a love of having my feet solidly on the ground, if I had to guess.

"Calliope?"

"Sir?" I replied before I'd even thought about it. I opened my eyes to see him holding out a hand. His bay was already situated on the small main deck, and watching us curiously. I almost automatically took his hand, before pausing for a heartbeat to consider the possible repercussions.

_I shouldn't… even a hint of a relationship between him and a subordinate, and the gossip will spread like wildfire. I don't even think he likes me like that. He shouldn't. I shouldn't like him either. But… he's offering…_

With an uneasy smile that wasn't exactly there, I took the proffered hand, and wound up wobbling enough to almost lose my balance—enough to need Rolith's hand to help steady me. As the ferry left the docks and started rocking in the current, I tripped over my own feet in my rush to get to the side of the boat. After throwing up nothing but water again, I felt one of Rolith's armored hands rest on my shoulder.

"You okay?" he asked hesitantly. I thought randomly that it was a stupid question, but I wasn't going to fault him on it—he meant well. Besides, what else was he supposed to ask?

"Good as it gets," I mumbled dejectedly, letting my head hang limply over the edge for a moment before the rocking motion of the boat unsettled it once more. Gripping the wooden railing of the ferry hard enough that my knuckles paled, I used my toes to propel my body forward just enough to hang my head over the side again. Frankly, I was amazed there was even _water_ left in my stomach. My throat and mouth were burning, and I felt horrible. I wasn't going to let that dampen my mood this time around, though.

"That doesn't look fun," Rolith observed helplessly. I allowed a slight smile to tug at the edges of my lips, even though he couldn't see it.

"Would you believe it if I said I haven't had this much fun since a Sneevil stole my clothing back at home, and I had to go break the news to Mum that I needed to rescue my poor underwear from a little green man?" This was perhaps the longest string of words I'd managed to put together while on the boat, and I succeeded in eliciting a low chuckle out of Rolith. "Her reaction was absolutely priceless…"

"We're almost there," he comforted cautiously. "You want to take your mare off, or should I?"

"Tessa," I grunted, spitting over the side of the ferry and trying to keep my stomach in order as I slowly straightened. "Her name's Contesse. And if it's alright with you… I would really appreciate that," I admitted gratefully, offering a strained smile.

"Good name," he complimented as the craft began to make a sort of grinding noise—the kind that meant I was about to be off this roly-poly _boat_.

I scrambled for the docks, and plopped down against a tree trunk just off the path leading from the docks. Closing my eyes, I let myself absorb the solid feeling of the bark against my back, and the ground that _wasn't _swaying underneath my feet. I heard the clopping of horse hooves gradually headed my way, but refused to open my eyes, by order of my stomach.

"I'll just be a minute," I remarked in a tone that sounded just a little too tired to be me. _Gotta work that back up. Can't have people thinking I'm all depressed and whatnot._

"Take your time," Rolith allowed, and a moment later I heard the heavy clink of armor to my right, and it occurred to me belatedly that Rolith must have sat down as well. A soft muzzle brushed over my cheek and nose, then gently lipped my eyelid. A smile was my response.

"Hey, Tessa," I murmured quietly past a sore throat as I raised my hands to cup her huge head, slowly so I could avoid accidentally poking her in the eye. I kept my own eyes closed, unsure if the ground would still be tilting back and forth or not. "Have I mentioned how incredibly patient with me you are?" I crooned, running a hand lightly along the warm leather that served as her bridle. "You lovely, wonderful, brilliant, patient girl. I don't understand how anybody could have given you up. You're too perfect."

"She's certainly sweet-tempered," Rolith agreed, and I felt a faint blush trying to work its way into my cheeks.

_Great. I'm talking to myself again… or to my horse, which is just as bad… I need a mind filter._

"I thought I'd cured myself of talking out loud around you," I admitted, warily peeking sideways. The trees and the springy, leaf-spotted ground stayed where they should. A little more confident, I opened my eyes all the way, and glanced right. The Captain looked amused, as usual. _I wonder if that's just his temperament or if it's me…_

"Not quite. You do it if you're not paying attention, or if you're heavily focused on something."

"Unintentionally," I retorted playfully.

"I dunno, it's actually kind of fun to hear how you think."

"If you heard how I normally think, you might have thrown me in the crazy house by now."

"Is that so?"

"It's definitely so."

"I see," he chuckled, his (relatively) stoic expression disappearing with every line we traded back and forth. "All good now?"

"Seems to be," I muttered, glaring rebelliously at my midsection. "I just hope that next time, the bridge is in one piece."

"For your sake, so do I," he replied with a grin as he stood, his pewter-colored armor making slight clinks when he moved. I was suddenly reminded of wind chimes.

"Ye of little faith," I said dangerously under my breath, sliding my back up the rough tree trunk until I was standing again. I took the broken-in leather reins that were handed to me, and smiled at Tessa as I stretched my left foot up to reach her stirrup. With a soft grunt of effort, I hauled myself into the saddle with wobbling arms and legs that felt a bit like jelly. It wasn't a very pleasant feeling. Using two fingers from each hand, I held on to Tessa's reins, and the other three I buried in her mane.

"You want to head to the mess hall when we get back?" Rolith questioned when I wiggled my butt into the saddle. I considered it.

"Well… I never got lunch… and by the time we get back, not only will it be dinner time, but I won't have eaten since this morning. Aside from that, what I did eat is absolutely gone now. So assuming my stomach settles enough for me to actually eat something in the next twenty to thirty minutes, _yes_, I would absolutely love to head to the mess hall," I finished, nodding to myself with a modest grin. Rolith sent me a matching one in response.

"Then let's get there before all the good stuff's gone," he drawled, giving his bay stallion a nudge with his right heel. Either it was harder than it looked, or the bay was sensitive to signals, because the beast quickly spun on his hind feet, taking off down the trail. It narrowed less than a minute's ride down the path, I remembered as I drove Contesse after them, so I stayed firmly behind him, and didn't try to draw level, much as I wanted to.

"Let's show them what a real warhorse is made of, Tess," I whispered into the wind. Her ears flicked, and I felt the faint change in body language that meant she was putting more into her running; the hairsbreadth of a lift in her back end as she ran; the flattening out of the junction between her neck and her ears; the slight rounding off of her back when all four feet were off the ground. I tightened my legs around her barrel and extended my arms, little more than a passenger as Tessa drove herself after Rolith and his stallion.

We came up behind and passed Rolith just as we plunged into the deep part of the forest. My wonderful, one-of-a-kind gray mare was carrying just over half the weight that the bay was, considering the sheer mass of Rolith's armor. As what little light there was in this section of the forest flashed over and past us before it could be fully registered, I shot a sidelong glance at my friend. He was grinning, and I stuck my tongue out at him briefly before urging Tessa to go even faster.

"See you at the Keep!" I tossed playfully over my shoulder over the whistling of the wind in my ears.

We burst out into the lighter area of the forest, and I started laughing as we rocketed down the track to the Keep. Peals of laughter were torn from my lips by the wind created by our passing, and Rolith's low, rumbling laughter reached me over the steady drum of our horses' hooves.

Grinning wolfishly, I decided that I liked that sound, and shifted back a hair on Tessa's back. Ever-attentive to body language, the dappled mare began to slow, finally sliding about a foot when we reached the gates, just as Rolith's bay did. Both horses were blowing hard, and I started Tessa off in a slow trot in large, uneven circles around Rolith to cool her down a bit.

"Ho! Open up!" Rolith bellowed upwards to the men who stood on the wall above the gates, and after a long minute, the grinding sound of pulleys and gears emanated from behind the worn wood. I trailed after Rolith as he nudged his stallion to a walk, and ran the fingers of my right hand through my tangled blonde hair good-naturedly. I was so elated right now that I couldn't even bring myself to be irritated when the digits got stuck, and just shook my hair out over my shoulders again. Rolith gently pulled the thick-necked bay to a halt once we were inside the gates, and when he dismounted, the orange-tinged light of the late afternoon sun faded from the side of his face. I followed suit, wondering if I could mix that color up later for a portrait or something.

"Come on," I said with a cheerful smile as I headed towards the smaller gate with Tessa, "Let's give the horses a good rub down. They deserve it."

"Aren't I the one who's supposed to be giving orders around here?" the Captain retorted pleasantly, and I shot him a purposely incredulous look. His glare was reply enough.

We both chose brushes from a brush box provided in the tack area of the stables, and proceeded to thoroughly clean our horses. I peered owlishly at Rolith over the dappled back of my mare as he swept the dirt off of the reddish brown coat of the bay stallion. The two horses nickered softly and blew into each other's nostrils as way of greeting, and Tessa snuffled gently at the bay's cheek. Rolith glanced up from time to time, but eventually sighed with false vexation and turned his attention to me.

"Yes?"

"Well… I was wondering," I began, resting my chin in my hands while my elbows were balanced on Contesse's back, "How did you get to be Captain?"

"Curious, or jockeying for my position?" he chuckled, grinning.

One side of my lips twitched. "A little of both," was all I admitted to. And that much, at least, was true. "I've always wanted to be one of the ones around the table in the war room, be the one that knights came to for advice… who was sent out to hunt down outlaws for weeks at a time, and be the kind of Warrior who just shot up through the ranks from initiation."

"Like me?" my friend asked with just a hint of a smile.

"I guess. I just want… recognition," I confided quietly, suddenly shy as I rubbed the brush down Tessa's neck with no pressure on it. "I want to be the one everybody looks up to. I want to be _great._ Like… like a legend. I want to be _remembered. _I… when I ride through the streets, I want people to know my name!" I finally exclaimed, looking up at him. I didn't know what I'd see there—but I wasn't _scared_ of what his expression might say. I trusted him, enough that I didn't believe there would be any judgment in his eyes.

What I saw there made the hope rise again, stronger than ever. He understood, and he offered me a tired half-smile as he leaned forward over his bay's broad back. The equine gave only a glance to his master before reaching over again to lightly draw his muzzle down Tessa's neck. She turned her head around to nuzzle the hollow of his throat.

"And you're well on your way to it, if you keep going like you are," he told me gently, flicking another spot of dust off the bay's side. "Don't let anybody bring you down, and trust that life will take you in the right course. Now finish up grooming Contesse, and we'll head to the mess hall for dinner, huh?" He reached across both horses to ruffle my head with an armored hand, and I shook it off with a bright grin.

"Yes sir!"

"Don't call me sir."

"Yes ma'am!"

* * *

**Hey, all!**

**Hope you liked this chapter… I really enjoyed writing it (even though it took me two months to actually do so). xD Reviews!**

**Wait a minute... (Time for some shameless pity parties.) Readers, I am hurt. ;A; I thought you loved me... **

**Now, what might be the best news for those of you who are liking this and **_**Zhi Lao'Hu…**_** This is part of a chain of Dragonfable fanfictions I'm thinking of starting. It will be a long road. It will be a very, very long expedition. But they will all go in a particular order, and our characters **_**will**_** age. Artix and Magiya? At the beginning of **_**their**_** stories, they were 19 and 23. Here, they're 21 and 25. **

_**Four years difference? And at that age? What is Artix thinking?!**_

**He wasn't. (And I don't think I was either…) I think we all know that he doesn't… typically. :) But they're going to get older as these up-and-coming fictions come and go—so will all of the other non-canon characters. (Some of the canon characters will too, actually, now that I think about it.) But my point is, the way **_**I**_** write them into being, they aren't normal RPG characters. They age.**

**Also! I have some really excellent news for those of you who fell in love with _Zhi Lao'Hu_! :D I know I told so many of you that there wouldn't be a sequel, but lately, I've come up with some really effin good ideas for possible sequels. Only one made the epic journey to a possible ending across my head. B) There is a 9/10 chance of a _ZLH_ sequel! Do you hear me? ... If you do, you should have your ears checked, because no one said a word. ;D **

**And on that (incredibly exciting) note, readers, I take my leave. :)**

**Juliet**


	11. Chapter 11

_"Reach for the sky, set goals, live life to the fullest, and always remember to wake up each_  
_day with a smile."  
~Brandy Miller_

* * *

A hard knock on my door jerked my attention roughly out of my own little bubble of creativity, and I whipped my head around with a blush, barely managing to get a cloth over my canvas before the door opened. I couldn't remember the last time I let anyone see an unfinished painting, and I wasn't looking forward to doing so. To my surprise, Magiya poked her head in, and I relaxed.

"Magiya!" I said with an easy grin, setting my paintbrush down by my palette and shaking a few loose strands of gray-painted blonde hair out of my face.

"I was just dropping off some books and tomes for Maya from Warlic. Rolith said you were quartered up in here," she commented as she stepped in and closed the door behind her. She glanced around my room with critical eyes, and I felt the sudden urge to smooth out my bed covers, stack my completed paintings up neater in the corner, and maybe sweep. The Mage flicked a finger at the paintings leaned up in a stack in the corner. "Nice."

"Thanks… I think?"

A smile touched her lips. "You're welcome. It's a compliment. A three-syllable word meaning a polite expression of praise or admiration—"

"I'm sticking to thank you."

"You're welcome," she replied with a small smile. I got the feeling that any compliments she handed out weren't given out lightly. "Can I look?"

Almost immediately, all of my insecurities about my artwork came rushing back. I tucked my chin against my neck just a little as my brows came down, and worried on the inside of my lower lip with my front teeth.

"Well… I mean, the one's not finished—"

"Works in progress are indicative of the artist's style," Magiya slid in smoothly. Nervously brushing my bangs behind my ears again, I worked to remember all that I had seen of her. Would she be like other people, mention them once, and ignore them for the rest of the time?

I didn't think so.

_She's blunt,_ I thought. _If she doesn't like them, she'll say so and then have a _reason _for never talking about them again. _

"Okay," I finally murmured, gesturing helplessly at the line of canvases leaning against each other in the corner. Magiya nodded once to me, and her dark blue eyes gleamed as though she understood. I hadn't any idea of what she might have been through, so for all I knew, she might get it.

Kneeling to paw through the finished paintings, she studied each one. I felt a little self-conscious, mainly because one of the completed five had the Captain as their subject. Magiya shot me a glance out of the corner of her eye when she finished, then went back to the first one—the image of the sunlight against the stone, contrasting against a shocking pure blue that served as the sky.

"I am strong because I know my weaknesses," she told me firmly, pointing at the canvas.

She moved on to the next one—the portrait of the woman with short black hair. She had lovely features, but her cheeks were a little too broad for classic beauty. Her dark eyes caught those of the viewer and held them relentlessly.

"I am beautiful because I am aware of my flaws."

The following was one that I had done after seeing a green stallion buck off his rider—a page delivering a message to the Keep, something about a box?—and it was an image of the young man after he had picked himself up. He wasn't mad at his horse, he just got right back on. He had placed his palm flat against his horse's neck for a moment, and this was what I had captured.

"I am wise because I learn from my mistakes."

One of the canvases with Rolith on it was next. It was a painting of him on his bay stallion right before we reached the road leading to the Keep at sunset, and he had paused to look directly west and into the setting sun. The way the light had played over his face and armor had been mesmerizing.

"I am a lover because I have felt hate."

That one made a blush flare up in my cheeks, but Magiya was already moving on to the one behind it. It wasn't anything special, in terms of detail. It was one that I had painted because I had seen it so often—a portrait of Maya, looking over her shoulder, still grinning from left-over laughter. The young woman's eyes had been absolutely brilliant with how much they'd been gleaming.

"I can laugh because I have known sadness."

Then without warning, she stood to sweep the cloth off of my unfinished one. Well, it wasn't exactly incomplete, but I still wanted to add a few touches to indicate a light source properly.

The other one I had made of Rolith was simple, but still complicated. It was the Captain as _I_ saw him; tapered jaw that led to a proudly lifted chin, the very corners of his lips pointed upwards, high cheekbones, eyes flecked with green and copper to make hazel, lowly arched brows over them with a slightly bent nose sitting in the middle (after being broken twice, I would think so), and glossy, tarnished gold hair enveloping everything else.

At seeing this particular work, a soft smile crept over her lips, and I felt like an outsider witnessing something meant for others. In this, I could understand why Artix loved her.

"Imperfection is beauty," she whispered, "Madness is genius. You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." She looked up at me. "Would you believe me if I told you that somebody told me that, a very long time ago? All of it?"

"You'd have no reason to lie," I said with a grin that didn't reach my eyes. I was still a little surprised that a woman who was so short-tempered could have said all that.

She looked down a little. "Sometimes I worry I come off as too prickly for first appearances," she said quietly, that enigmatic half-smile sticking to her face like it had been pasted there. I didn't think it was real anymore. Then a snort escaped her nostrils. "And then I'm reminded that people see what they want to see, and it doesn't matter anymore."

"That would explain why I'm always seeing the good side of people," I contributed with a short bark of laughter. "I try not to see anything else if I can help it. For instance, the bandits? They probably don't know any better! More than likely, they were raised in the group, and have no other indications of how to act! From an early age, they're taught that mobbing travelers is the best way to make a living. They're all unique and individual people, and if they had been taught differently, some of them could have been honestly _great_."

"…Or they could all just be lying scumbags who went from another job to this and know exactly what they're doing."

"Hey, for all you know, some of them could be helped."

"Why don't we just run with scissors or talk to strangers? Maybe they've got some candy."

I rolled my eyes playfully at her, then flicked a finger at the nearly-finished painting of Rolith. "So tell me the truth, whaddya think?"

"Have I ever told you otherwise?"

"Does that mean this time will or won't be any different?"

"… Fair. Alright then… I think you've got a crush, and from all that appearances dictate, you haven't had one either ever or in a long time, so you're confused to start off with. On top of that, he's a Captain, and you said yourself that you're worried about relationships of his with a subordinate, although I think that your real fear should be—"

"I meant about the _painting._"

"Oh. … It's good."

I ran my paint-covered fingers through my hair mutely. Magiya just gazed at me with dark blue eyes that were working a thousand miles an hour. I got the feeling that if I ever truly did piss her off, chances were I might not live long enough to regret it.

"When you fall for someone," she started after a long silence, "You fall hard, and then there's nothing you can do about it." A short, humorless laugh flew out past her lips. "I learned that the hard way." Privately, I wondered if there _was_ any other way to fall for someone.

"Isn't… isn't there anything you can do or say, to help or something..?" I pleaded. A faint snarl curled her upper lip automatically, it seemed, and her reply was short and cutting, but painfully true.

"I can't direct you for every step of the way in what may or may not be a relationship," she said curtly, acid woven through her tone. "If you can't figure things out, then everything's going to fall apart and burn before_ any_thing's even recognized as a full relationship." After this short tirade, Magiya paused, as though there was something else that had occurred to her. I barely dared to breathe at the moment, so much shock was coursing through my mind.

"_She's… blunt. And critical. She's direct and no-nonsense most of the time, and on a bad day she's got a subzero temperature."_

"_Just, if she seems to insult you, don't be offended; she's like that to just about everybody. She used to be worse, actually…"_

Rolith's words from the trip to Falconreach rang through my mind with the clarity of a bell. Under normal circumstances, I would have still smiled, and brushed off the criticism as a comment from someone who just didn't like me. But Magiya was different, and any evidence that I had managed to notice claimed the same. She didn't lie—she told things the way that she saw them.

This, of course, meant that she was probably right. She wasn't trying to be mean—she was trying to drive the information through my thick blonde skull.

I smiled anyway.

"I've always wondered what it would be like to have a friend who never lied," I said mildly, feeling a little shamefaced, but also feeling like I was hiding it _sorta_ well. "And… you're right. I mean, yeah, I want to have a quick helping word now and then, but you're right; I've got to do this on my own."

With a light smile that was only barely there, Magiya reached up and patted my cheek twice a bit roughly, making me blink. Somehow, I got the impression that if I did the same to her, she'd be knocked clear over.

"Don't worry," Magiya told me in a level tone, "I'll never tell you anything _but _the truth." Her expression dulled. "I might not talk to you at all… but I'll never lie." I regarded her warily.

"You're scarily brilliant. I'm not sure if that's a good thing yet."

"Time will tell," she said sweetly.

_That tone kinda scares me. It's too sweet._

"Anyway, I've got to get back. I promised Artix I'd help him track down some undead to take out," she said exasperatedly as she tugged my door open. I laughed, recognizing the attitude.

"There are some things girls will never understand," I told her sympathetically, "But for me, fighting is not one of them."

"I will _never _understand non-magic users," the Mage muttered darkly, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. I shot her a shameless grin as she slipped through the door.

"Don't judge me!" I chirped playfully after her.

"Too late!" I heard her retort from the hallway. I wanted the last word, though, so I couldn't resist one more jab.

"I like you! People say that I have no taste, but I like you!"

"Fuck you!"

I chuckled to myself as I sauntered over to the nearly-finished painting I was working on of the Captain, tugging my paintbrush down from behind my ear and flicking my bangs out of the way with the wooden end. "Braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think," I murmured, quoting Magiya as a smile twisted my lips. "I like that. Now… just a little bit of a neutral-colored background for this, fading out, but something that will make it all _pop… _maybe a sort of darkish beige…? No, that'll tone down the hair…" My deliberations subsided into a series of mutterings as I got into the artist mindset again—not hard with my inability to focus on anything not art-related for long.

* * *

**Hello again, my freaky darlings! :D Dunno about you guys, but I'm in a pretty good mood at the moment. :) Earlier, I was watching the original **_**Pirates of the Caribbean**_**, and I got to thinking… **

**All of the cursed pirates, under moonlight, gain the appearance of half-rotted skeletons, clothes tattered and everything. Barbarossa said that, "The more we gave [the gold pieces] away, the more we came to realize, the drink would not satisfy, food turned to ash in our mouths," etc. By his retelling, this happened over time, so their half-dead appearance makes sense. But when (SPOILER ALERT) Jack snags a piece from the chest, then not much later gets stabbed by Barbarossa, he is already skeletonized. I know they did this for the movie's sake, but it's still a little bit odd, you know?**

**But anyway, I hope you enjoyed witnessing that Magiya isn't even nice to people she **_**likes**_**. ^^" But hey, it was important for Calliope to get a few things in order. Tell me whatcha think about the chapter, and don't hesitate to let me know if you spotted any inconsistencies or typos! :) And at last we get to reviews:**

**MusicalPoetess: **_I don't even know if that's set to happen yet! xD I may chicken out still! *glomp* Hope you know I still look up to you in that aspect! And I am just as excited as you are! :D_

**Luna (anon.): **_You have no idea how incredibly flattered I am. I'd like to say I could be all, "no, no, it's not my best work, ha ha," but in all honesty, I am absolutely giddy when I see a review as long as the one you've posted here. *tight hug* It really does mean a lot to me, as much as that saying undermines it.  
I'm positively thrilled that you are one of the DF fans who gives the writing portion of the fandom some love- there's not enough of people like that, in my opinion. That's why I continue to spread the love around, heh. Thank you so, so much. I put a lot of work into the psychology of my characters and attempt to fill them out so they seem as lifelike as possible. I've come across enough Mary Sues to see my error in my first fanfiction, and who knows? Maybe I'll completely rework the OC in that one to suit my purposes later. :)  
As far as Calliope's name goes, when I chose it, I knew about the Greek myth. But that had no factor in my decision, to be perfectly frank. It also had no ties to the musical instrument (even though I do love hearing calliopes), as Calliope the character is most definitely NOT musically inclined. ^^ It's no shame to fall in love with stories. There are old books meant for third-graders that I still read on a regular basis because I've fallen in love with THEM. :) I understand perfectly well what you mean when you say that, and it's anything BUT creepy.  
Magiya is one of many peoples' favorite characters, and for that I'm really glad. I know that it's not a good idea, because of the issue of self-insertion, but I put many of my own flaws and points of view into Magiya's head. It's not a good practice, I know this, but for a project like that I thought it might be better for me to be able to understand her as a person and back up many of her points with 'evidence' that I could understand and sympathize with, because that would give me better ideas to put on paper (or on screen). :) If that makes any sense at all.  
__And hey, you wanna know who **I'm** jealous of? Take a look at **MusicalPoetess**'s page. If there's anyone I could be jealous of, I'm glad to say that it would be her. In fact, I AM jealous. :) She's a fantastic writer.  
Here's your update, I hope you enjoyed it and I really hope you continue to read through this (slightly random) adventure! ^^ Thank you for reviewing!_

**See you all in the next chapter!**

**Juliet**


	12. Chapter 12

_"To love someone is nothing, to be loved by someone is something, but to be  
__loved by the one you love is everything."  
~Bill Russell_

* * *

I brought my sword down to cleave through a Sneevil's skull without a hitch, momentum carrying it all the way through the small creature. I regarded it with a shallow sense of victory, but mostly blankness. It was necessary, I decided with a slight nudge to Tessa's ribcage, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

Besides, if I hadn't, he might have sliced through the tendons in her lower legs with those tiny daggers of his… hers? I wasn't sure Sneevils _had_ a gender. They were somewhat populated, so they had to have _some _way of reproducing, right…?

"Gah, I'd rather not think about that," I muttered to myself as I shook my bangs out of my eyes. "Keep moving!"

The pair of knights trailed after Tessa and me as we trotted down the path. Earlier that morning, I had been given orders to take two knights out to the short stretch of grass that stood between the woods and the ledge, taking out monsters and beasts that caused us trouble along the way, and make sure that no other adventurers got stuck out there. From time to time, some did. With how the Captain had phrased it, all adventurers liked to go after the monsters before taking a glance at civilization. It had taken almost all of my willpower not to make some snappy, playful comment about how a similar thing had happened to me.

Then I glimpsed flash of gray and ivory peeking out from the treeline a few yards to our right, and my skin prickled.

"Gorillaphant at four o clock!" I roared, jabbing my heel just slightly harder than necessary into Tessa's left side, causing her to spin to my right in the space of a breath. _It's showtime._ The knights turned as well, to face the danger. As the creature that was twice as tall as a man literally broke the tree line, my sword came free of its scabbard with a subtle scraping noise. With the reins gripped tightly between my left fingers, I wordlessly edged Tessa sideways in the direction of the Gorillaphant, maneuvering so that my sword was between us and the monster.

The two knights came up on both sides as the bulky creature made its way onto the grassy stretch between us and the forest—judging from how awkwardly it walked at a slow pace, their body build was best for charging or climbing, not just walking. Sitting up straight in my saddle, I held my blade at a slight angle out towards the Gorillaphant, making eye contact.

"You do not want this fight!" I called, shoulders tilted so my right shoulder was down a little further than my left one. My slate gray eyes bored into the slanted, almost luminescent yellow ones of the beast. After all, he was no more than that—an unintelligent animal. They could be trained, yes, just like any other creature, but they couldn't speak. They deserved one chance to run away… just one. They didn't take it, that was their problem. "Turn around," I nearly breathed. "Turn around, and walk away."

_Not all creatures respond to words,_ I thought as everything seemed to hold its breath, _But most respond to a human voice._

The Gorillaphant shuffled its bulky front limbs, then grunted quietly and retreated a step or two. Submission. In response, I dropped my sword tip an inch, if that. It finally backed into the woods once more, and within moments its furry form was lost in the trees. After a few minutes more, I sheathed my sword and returned my gaze to the faint path that had been marked over time through the short grass before us.

"Hup!" I called out, nudging Tessa's sides with my heels. She broke into a slow trot, tucking her head in towards her chest as she did so. It wasn't much further to the edge of the cliff—maybe seven minutes' ride at this pace. While we went, the knights cautiously shadowed my horse and me, and not a word was spoken between them. I looked down at Tessa fondly, gripping with my thighs and knees to prevent bouncing straight out of the saddle. She seemed to have taken a fancy to Rolith's thick-barreled bay, and watching the two of them interact was similar to watching a bold, humorous young man and a shy but daring young lady.

Well, I could hardly fault her for it. After all, I was in love with that bay too. Even someone who didn't understand animals at all would feel the love of life that seemed to radiate off the stallion. From what I had seen, most of the personnel at Oaklore Keep had wonderful taste in horses and steeds to work with.

The edge of the cliff came into view around the bend, and with relief I saw that there was nobody out there. During one dinner in the mess hall with about a dozen of the knights from various points around the Keep, stories were traded back and forth, and one particular one had been told by Sir Vivor about one particular Warrior who had gotten stuck out there a few years back, around the time that Warlic faked his death. (I _still _didn't know who this Warlic was—when Magiya stopped by a few weeks back, she mentioned him. From what I'd heard, he was a sort of teacher or scholar?) The Warrior apparently thought the knights were against him, and began attacking them instead of the small horde of Sneevils.

Frankly, if the theory was right that you were only paranoid until it happened, I'd like to be cautious—just a step off of paranoid, right? It was either one extreme or the other.

"Nobody here," I stated unnecessarily, barely pulling back on Tessa's reins. She stopped immediately anyway, and for the millionth time I silently and fervently thanked whoever had trained her, praising their training skills.

I took another thorough glance around, being sure to search for something out of place; blood drops that didn't belong on a monster; trampled grass in more than one area; footprints. Since I'd met the Captain, he seemed to be inadvertently passing on transferrable skills… like noticing tiny details you might have missed otherwise.

"Let's head back," I called over my shoulder, shooting a light grin at the two knights as I nudged Tessa's left side to turn her. As we trotted back up the trail the way we had come, I absently noticed my braid swinging back and forth between my shoulders, and without missing a beat in my posting, shrugged it over my left shoulder to lie against my armor-covered collarbone. Once past the area where we had seen the Gorillaphant, I allowed a back section of my mind to wander, while the rest kept an eye out for anything off. As per the usual, painting was in my thoughts.

I had a plan in mind for a new landscape painting—not that I did those often. I preferred having a noun be the subject of anything I painted, so landscapes or wide shots weren't my preference.

_Maybe a long shot of the Keep from the outside?_ I wondered as the same huge gates in the wall came into view. _No… they're seen too often, they're nothing special… but something I haven't seen before, now _that _will be a challenge._

"_A place for wishes and secrets, for madness and dreams."_

Out of the blue, my mum's voice rang in my ears. It was an old phrase that I heard, the same one that was the header to one of my favorite things that Mum used to tell me when I was little. She used to recite it to me from memory every night before I would go to sleep, but each time, the story changed. It was never the same story twice, but it _always_ started with that line. Sometimes the story was sad. Sometimes it was absolutely joyful, and sometimes the knight rode in on a while steed to save the princess in a daring rescue. Sometimes it had me. But it was never the same bedtime story more than once.

_A place for wishes and secrets, for madness and dreams,_ I mused silently as my company and I entered the Keep. The Captain wasn't back from his patrol yet. Almost mechanically, I cared for and groomed Tessa, giving her neck a last pat before latching the stall door behind me and heading for my room. I had an idea that I needed to get out on canvas, and I couldn't let it get away, could I? No, this idea had to be chained to a stone block twice its size and six times as heavy. I wasn't letting this one out until it was captured on fabric.

In record time after reaching my room, I had a fresh canvas on my easel, paint mixed, and brush out. A sort of dark, slightly sinister purple to start with… Then gradually lighten it in parts. Because of my lack of windows, I had no knowledge of time in my room, and that also meant I had no clue of what might be going on outside unless there was a siege with catapults or something.

"Probably gonna miss dinner," I murmured, gingerly stroking a separate piece of the canvas. "But that's alright. I wasn't hungry anyway."

I'd barely gotten through the set-up of the landscape when my door was opened without so much as a knock, and I decided if they didn't have the decency to knock on a lady's door, they didn't deserve my attention. Besides, it would have meant looking away from my newest conquest. No sir, they weren't going to get a word out of me, or even a glance!

Of course, just like with all the others, that ruling of mine turned out to be topped with a stink bomb instead of a cherry. With a loud and startling _clink_, armored fingers grabbed my upper arm and whirled me around. I let out a very undignified yelp as I was spun to face the Captain, who had a grip like iron and wasn't letting go.

"Before you do anything else," he declared, completely unaware of how much he sounded like my father just then, "You are going to do _something_ to remove those rhinestones from my horse's browband."

"Because I'm the only one who knows how to remove them safely, and you can't survive without my unbelievable awesomeness?" I asked cheekily. I received a light cuff to the back of my head.

"Do you intentionally irritate me?" Rolith grumbled, all but shoving me out of my room.

"Irritating?! You said you liked me!"

"That doesn't mean you're not extraordinarily aggravating," he retorted with a faint smile as he pushed me outside. I still had my paintbrush in my hand, and shades of purple, black, and a sort of aqua decorating my left arm.

"Hello, pot, my name is kettle…" I recited, still grinning cheerfully while I was propelled towards the stables.

Anyone who had a brain would know that I wasn't fond of being torn away from my hobby. That didn't mean I wasn't enjoying a good argument, but it also didn't mean that I wasn't going to try to get back to my painting.

I slid my left foot out and to the side, and the rest of my body followed suit while my back automatically arched to avoid any possible grab that might have been made. A hop and a skip later, I bolted for the doors to the immense building, intent on going back to my painting before following any friend-issued orders. If Rolith got all serious and gave me those _captainly_ orders to 'remove those hideous sparkly decorations at once,' then yeah, I'd go along with it. Wouldn't be as fun, though.

All of the breath was abruptly torn out of my lungs as I crashed against a bar that appeared around my middle, and my feet flew out from under me heading in the same direction my upper half was. In the next moment, I was being (literally) dragged back the way I had come, everything from my hips down scraping along through the dust. I didn't even try to struggle, just whining and offering compromises or deals.

"C'mon, I'll do it when I finish this painting! It won't even take that long, I swear! Just another hour, that's all! Okay, fine, 20 minutes! How does 20 minutes sound? No? Then just ten minutes! Ten, that's all I need! C'mon, please please pretty please? Just ten minutes?" I could see that we were getting quite a few odd looks from the other knights around the Keep as I was unceremoniously hauled up to the smaller set of gates that separated the stables from everything else for the benefit of the horses. I really didn't much mind what they thought—I was just being me. "All I'm asking is five minutes now! Final offer! Five minutes! That's all I'll need to finish my painting, I promise, then I won't ask for any more time, I'll be done! Cross my heart! _Oof!_"

For the second time in as many minutes, the breath was forced out of me in a _whoosh_ that made my lungs hurt. My back hit the wooden wall of the stable, and I glared balefully up at my friend, who was finally cracking a grin that seemed just a little sadistic to me.

"Meanie," I muttered, reaching up above my head to grab at Rolith's bridle. He hadn't gotten a break from the jibes about it being sparkly, to my knowledge—I might have irreparably damaged his 'big bad Captain' reputation. Scrambling up out of the dust, I shrugged the leather contraption over my left shoulder, looking up at Rolith. "Are you going out soon, or…?" He shrugged.

"Not for a bit yet. Why, want me to sit with you?" he teased gently. I was certainly no expert on knowing expressions and reading between the lines, but my friend actually looked… willing? Honest? I couldn't find the right word for it.

"If you don't mind?" I asked quietly, strangely hesitant. For me, anyway. It was either all in or all out, no inbetween. This sort of… tentativeness was really unusual for me.

"Not at all," he replied to my relief, offering a light smile. Sliding down the side wall of the stable to sit in the corner where stable and Keep wall met, I arranged my legs to I would be sitting crisscross and laid the bridle down across my ankles. Rolith sat down next to me with a sound that sounded a bit like a sigh and a bit like a groan.

"Tired?" I guessed, raising both eyebrows.

"Nah." My brows had just come down low over my eyes when he followed up with, "Just a little worn down. It's nice to take a few minutes every now and then."

"Understandable," I admitted, working my right index nail underneath the first stud. "I noticed something." My friend made a questioning sound, and I took that as my cue to continue. "We never finished our questions on the way to Falconreach."

"Not sure you could ever really _finish_ one of those, but you wanna go first?"

"Sure. Um…" I paused as I worked at the rhinestone from another angle. "If you could travel anywhere… and price and distance aren't really a problem… where would you go?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rolith tip his head back against the wall of the stables as he pondered this. For some reason, I was getting the feeling that this particular conversation wasn't one where one of us would purposely vex the other—it was an honest conversation between friends. And it was different from my usual style of busting through without thinking, but—I liked it. Sort of.

"Here," the Captain eventually said quietly, looking up at the sky past the wall of the stable. "It's a little crazy sometimes, like when the bandits get up to no good, but… life is normal here." He rolled his head to the side to meet my curious eyes. "As a person… I can't say I've ever really thrived on change. Some people do—I'm just not one of them." A dry chuckle was pulled out of him. "And here, at the Keep, life stays mostly the same on a day-to-day basis. I like it. The regularity and consistency… it's comforting, in a way, I guess." With a quiet _pop_, the first stud came off, and went flying over my shoulder.

"That makes a lot of sense," I conceded. As for no change being comforting… I didn't have an opinion with that. If change came, I rolled with the blow and made the best of it if the option was there. "Your turn."

"Hm… what's the _worst _job you've ever had?"

With that question, the slightly solemn mood was banished, and I proceeded to explain to Rolith (in slightly gruesome detail) about the job I had for a total of three hours back home when I was fifteen where I was working at the butcher's, _just _wrapping meat. It made me sick anyway, having to handle it, so I went to beg a job from the smith later the same day.

"Wound up working him for two and a half years," I said a bit ruefully, a smile tugging at my lips as I thought of my first lesson in sword fighting while still in his employment. The fourth stud came popping off of Rolith's browband, and I offered a small smile. "Now… if you could be a type of animal, what animal would you be?"

"Pridemaster, I think," he said after a moment's consideration. "They're really…"

"Noble?" I guessed, working with my nails at the fifth rhinestone.

"Yeah. I guess that's the word I was looking for. Did you know Magiya's got one?"

"Really?" I demanded, my eyebrows shooting up. "I wouldn't think she did. She seems a little… hm… a little like she wouldn't get along well with others, and maybe animals, too, I guess. No offense meant," I added hastily. "I just… I can't see her as an animal person. The whole 'scared of horses' thing kind of alienated me," I continued, rattling off whatever popped into my head.

In my peripheral vision, I could see Rolith doing the 'soul-searching' kind of look that my mother did the one time I innocently suggested that my brother had tied himself to the roof of the stables. After a second, I drudged up the courage to lift my head and meet his gaze squarely. I could feel my pulse leaping for its freedom under my jaw, but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I blinked once or twice, a bit startled by the intensity that could be packed into two-tone eyes. More specifically, a particular pair of hazel irises that, try though I might, my paintbrush just couldn't match.

With a mental jolt, I realized that we'd both been sitting there staring at each other for a little bit longer than a minute, and that was a minute I wasn't working on the browband. An uncalled-for blush abruptly forced its way into my cheeks, and I quickly looked down at my hands, praying to whatever deities that might have existed right then that he wouldn't notice or comment. In particular, the latter.

"Uh…" Words failed me as I bit down on my lip, letting my bangs fall into my face gladly. My heartbeat was racing, to the point where if I held my breath I would probably feel it jumping beneath my skin as though it were trying to break its way out, slap me in the face, and go, 'You nut, just show me somebody already, I'm starving here!'

Under normal circumstances I would probably just blurt out something incredibly random that would ruin the moment. My issue was that this wasn't what I would dub a 'normal circumstance'—this was a Captain and his subordinate. He shouldn't… _I_ shouldn't.

But 'should,' 'would,' and 'could' had no place in any course of action. I kept my eyes angled downwards, picking uselessly at the next stud in line, the entire time internally chanting, _Nothing _can_ happen. Nothing _will _happen. Nothing is _going _to happen. Nothing _can _happen. Nothing _will _happen. Nothing is _going_ to happen._

You know all that 'he said, she said' stuff about how when something momentous happens, they say you feel your heart skip a beat? You stop breathing, your heart clenches, and it feels like the world's just stopped around you? Yeah, all of that. They sucked at describing stuff with that. Truth is, you feel like you're about to jump out of your skin, and you feel like your blood's boiling if you don't get up and move. So when Rolith's armored fingers tentatively pushed my bangs back behind my ear, brushing my cheekbones along their path, that's exactly what I did.

I leapt to my feet with some jumble of words—several of which were 'pony,' 'paintings,' 'flower,' and 'banana'—dropped his bridle, and made myself scarce. I didn't run—I just made sure I could get myself out of sight quickly. _Really_ quickly. Not even minding where I was going a the moment, I let my feet take me where they wanted, and wasn't exactly surprised when those little traitors had me by the fountain I remembered discovering on my first day exploring the Keep. Sir Prize wasn't here this time, though, so at least this time I didn't have the wits scared out of me when I rounded the corner.

"That door was locked last time," I muttered, striding up to it after shooting a furtive glance over my shoulder. I just… I needed some time to think. Kneeling down to the lock, I slid my dagger from its hidden and not-often-used sheath, then worked the tip into the lock. I didn't have much practice with picking locks—but whatever this place was, it had to be small. Small and secluded. If you walked around the walls outside of the Keep, the wall didn't change. It didn't require enough space for an expansion along the outer wall.

"Be it a broom closet, a cage for monsters, or the food store in case of a siege," I muttered as the rusted lock popped open and fell to the ground, "I don't care." Opening one of the two doors with no mind for decorum, there was light enough for me to see only an inch-thick layer of dust and a few boxes piled around a tight, winding staircase that went up further than I could see into the darkness.

"Worst case, it leads to a room full of bats, right?"

With that single line of comfort to myself, I took a swift look around, memorizing where everything was, and closed the doors behind me. Moving by feel, I found the railing to the stairs, held fast to it, and began to climb. One single, mindless task with no visual aids left my mind open to things much further than I'd have liked.

_What would have happened?_ I wondered silently, a small surge of panic swirling through my mind. _If I hadn't gotten up and run, what might have happened?_

"Stop it," I whispered to the earsplitting silence as I went higher and higher. "You don't look back, and you don't wonder about what could have been, might have been, or anything! Focus on what's going on _now_. That's what's always important."

But it was never easy, being confronted with the idea that what you believed for the better part of 19 years was wrong. Granted, I can't remember another time when this had happened to me… didn't mean I had to like it this first time.

_Bam._

"Ow," I muttered reflexively, rubbing my head after cracking it against the ceiling. If I didn't know better, I'd have said it was stone. Feeling around in front of me, I felt wood—old, dilapidated wood that might fall apart if it got rained on—in front of the next step. Then a ring set into the wood where the door handle would normally be. "Leap of faith."

I thought it was a bit odd to have a door that opened outwards at the top of a stairwell, but I took a step back and tugged on the ring anyway. The door opened at once, and led into a small, low-ceilinged room with a trap door in the middle. The room was composed of the same stone as the rest of the Keep, but the trap door was ill-fitted to the stone, and small shafts of light pierced the places where the wood wasn't pressed up against the smooth rock. After a quick assessment of the door in the dim light, I determined that it opened outwards, and quietly closed the door to the stairway behind me. A light pressure of my fingertips was all it took to open the trapdoor, and I poked my head up.

The sunlight blinded me for a solid minute, but when my slate-colored eyes had finally adjusted, my jaw fell open a little. By the looks of the scene around me, I had found my way all the way to the roof of Oaklore Keep, and the view from up here was breathtaking.

I could see all the way from the walls of the Keep to the mountain twenty miles from the cliff, and the forest inbetween both of those. If I looked left, I could see the river. I could see the bridge (it had finally been rebuilt again), and even further off, the Guardian Tower. And if I squinted… was that the ocean? And the sun was warm up here, with nothing to block it. It bounced off the gold-tinted blocks of stone that the keep was comprised of and reflected into my eyes, giving everything a gilded appearance.

With a mental nod, I closed the trap door and sat on the stone beside it, braced my hands behind me, and sighed deeply to clear my thoughts.

I couldn't get any closer with Rolith, friends or no. I wasn't going to interfere with his ambitions, whether he wanted to stay at the Keep his entire career or no. And if I wanted to rise through the ranks as I'd always dreamed of… I was going to have to close off my heart.

But looking down at the bronzed head of hair walking around the Keep on the ground level, looking for a particular lady Warrior, I wished I could say that I wasn't at least a little bit in love. But lying had never been my strong suit.

* * *

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT:****  
**_**There is a possibility that, after Golden Touch is completed, **__Zhi Lao'Hu __**will be continued in a separate story. I know I told so many of you that I had no intention of making a sequel, but now that my mind has recovered and settled somewhat now that it's summer, I'm seriously considering forging on with the plot. Same characters from **__ZLH__**; that's not going to change. But if you think the sequel should happen, click 'Sequel' on the poll on my profile. If you believe that **__ZLH __**should stay the way it is, and I shouldn't try for a continuation and risk changing the characters' attitudes or personalities, click 'Leave it.'**_

**Whoof. This chapter took a week. *_* But I couldn't be any happier with the turnout. :) And I'll be completely honest, save for about two sentences, this entire chapter was nothing but improv. :P I feel so proud of myself right now. **

**Well, hel-LO there, reviewers! :D**

**Synchronized Harmony: **_Yes, nice catch! :D I've been (both consciously and subconsciously) connecting with my "less than 6 years old" side, and I stumbled across that line. I thought it would be perfect for the situation. :)  
Yes, Magiya's got quite a sailor's mouth. Personally, I only don't in the presence of adults, but you're right, that is just part of her character. ^^ I'm glad you're liking it so far! _

**MusicalPoetess: **_Look kid, when are you gonna admit that you have awesomely fantastic writing and that you can really utilize that on this site? :) Your stuff is terrific, I swear to Cloti. And would you believe me if I said that when I'm looking for random humorous conversations, I look to our old convos?_

**Luna (anon.): **_Nah, I updated right on time! :) Almost a day late, though—I had household chores to avoid and I completely forgot about the chapter. xD  
Australia?! Really? Awh, I've always wanted to go. What's it like?  
*glomps back* If you want a friend to get into Dragonfable, my recommendation is telling them you have a good story they need to read. It's full of adventure, monsters, heroes, etc, and give them your chosen fanfiction to read. Then when they're done reading, tell them that the entire thing was centered around DF. :) Watch their reaction.  
I've never taken a psychology course, so working with characters until they feel 'right' is kind of my way of making up for that. :) Oh god, you actually read that? Dx Oh man, do I feel sheepish. Those were _horrible,_ I tell you.  
From what I've read, you don't exactly need to have watched Hetalia to understand the concept of most of her fanfictions. :) If you have a question about any of the characters, she's perfectly friendly, don't be afraid to send her a question!  
Oh, you're an artist too? :D This is awesome! I can honestly say I was a bit worried about how the conversation between the two when Magiya saw her paintings would turn out—I actually rewrote it four times. ^^"  
You're doing a fanart thing?! *glomp* Oh my gosh, thank you so, so much! (And don't worry about autocorrect; he ticks me off too. xD)_

**Anyway, I really hope that you guys hanging along for the ride aren't regretting having tied their ankles to the wagon. ;D (Translation: I really hope you're enjoying the story this far!) And cheers for the longest chapter yet! I'm sorry this chapter was a few days late, but I've been attending a writing camp that goes for two weeks, and I completely forgot about the chapter. Dx I am so, so sorry! **

**A quick side note of my life for you guys! I finally took a big step in letting **_**another **_**RL buddy of mine read my stuff a couple weeks ago, and she finally got back to me after reading **_**Zhi Lao'Hu**_** and up to the most recent chapter of **_**Golden Touch**_**. I asked her who she liked better—Magiya or Calliope, since she's pretty cheerful most of the time. Her response caught me a little off guard:**

"_**Magiya and Calliope are the biggest debate for me since Edward and Jacob."**_

**So you see what kind of friends I make. :D**

**Another shout-out to my sister-friends, all of them—you know who you are! *glomp***

**Later, my freaky darlings!**

**Juliet**


	13. Chapter 13

_"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must  
__first invent the universe."  
__~Carl Sagan_

* * *

"You know what I would do if I were dating myself?... I'd bring myself an apple every morning and it would be adorable. Seriously. I love apples. But tomatoes are yucky. Bleh. Nasty, I tell you. It's funny how apples and tomatoes seem to be so similar, but taste-wise, they're about as different as cats and gorillaphants, y'know?"

"Calliope, exactly how much coffee did you have this morning?" Rolith asked exasperatedly, rolling his head to look over at me. I mirrored him, shooting him a million-watt grin.

"I don't usually drink coffee, you know that," I told him cheekily. I readjusted where I was sitting on the tree branch that was a foot in diameter, wiggling my butt so my back was comfortably against the tree trunk. We had been sitting on the other side of the trunk from each other for the better part of an hour now, me on the slimmer branch that I had dubbed MY Limb, Rolith on the thicker one. Granted, armor or no, he was heavier than I was, and just had more muscle and weight than I did.

"I just hope you never start," Rolith muttered under his breath. Even though he couldn't see, I stuck my tongue out at him rebelliously. In a way, bantering with the Captain made me just a bit homesick. It reminded me of the way my brother and I used to argue, and a quiet chuckle escaped me at the thought. "What's so funny?"

"Just remembering," I chirped. "Anthony and I used to bicker like… well, like siblings," I finished lamely, tucking my bangs behind my ear again. Just because they were slightly longer didn't mean they were long enough. Peeking around the tree trunk, I saw Rolith was wearing his flawless poker face.

"Like siblings?" he deadpanned, and grinning cheerfully, I nodded. "And he's your…"

"Brother, yeah."

"I thought you were smart?"

"Um, no, that's just a somewhat uncommon misconception."

Rolith rumbled his chuckle and turned his face forward again. I followed suit, and was about to close my eyes to doze a bit when a thought struck me. _Uh oh. This is very, very extremely not good. _

"Uh… Rolith…"

"Hmm?"

"I just had a thought…"

"I thought I smelled smoke," he responded, but for once I ignored the jibe.

"Yeah, um… how, exactly… uh, how are we going to get down?"

Judging from the dead silence from the other side of the tree trunk, my guess was that he didn't know either. Or he just chose not to think about it, like I did. Of course, the third option was that he thought I knew when I climbed up here and invited him to join me.

_Well, nobody forced him to want to join me…_

That one thought put a slightly warm glow in my stomach, as cliché and cheesy as that sounds. He had chosen to climb a tree just to spend time with yours truly while he had a few hours off.

"Well… you know what they say. If everything seems to be going well, you obviously overlooked something. …Wanna just cross that bridge when we come to it?"

"Mm, I'd prefer to jump off that bridge when we come to it."

Even though I couldn't technically see him at this point, I could just imagine the look he was throwing me right now. The whole 'you are brainless' look to which I would reply with a 'at least the zombies won't kill me' look. This, of course, would lead to another entire round of 'looks,' most of which would be involving some eyebrow waggling.

"I'm not even going to ask."

"Probably the wisest course of action," I agreed immediately.

"No," he concurred. "Instead, I'm just going to come to the conclusion that you're about as intelligent as a brick."

"… I resent that. Why does everybody seem determined to make me seem like I have the brains of a bag of hammers?" I pouted, bouncing my heels against the tree trunk below My Limb. I heard the slight clink of armor that signified Rolith's shrug.

"Maybe because you're blonde? I've heard a lot of horror stories, so to speak, about the torture those born blonde must suffer," he said quite seriously.

"At the moment, I'm hoping you were including yourself in that."

"Ouch. You wound me," he complained, but from the way his leg was swinging in my peripheral vision, he clearly wasn't concerned in the least.

Not that I was surprised by this. Contrary to how many people saw the typically stoic captain, he was full of jokes and teasing that rivaled those of my brother.

Unconcerned, I scraped lightly with an armor-covered finger at the rough bark beneath my hands on My Limb as we fell to silence. Silence, by itself, wasn't necessarily bad or evil. It was what the human mind concocted in that lack of conversation that could be dangerous. In my case, the almost-accident a week ago outside the stables.

Phrased like that, I guess it didn't sound all that upsetting. But I had chosen to run, when retreat was only rarely an option for me. But since I had chosen to stay at Oaklore Keep, my priorities had shifted. I was more open to tactical moves (both in battle and in everyday life) that I would never have considered otherwise.

What did that say about what I was becoming?

Exhaling a short puff of air to force my bangs out of my line of sight, I tipped my head back against the tree trunk. It wasn't wise to spend more time around the Keep—and in particular, the Captain. But somehow… I wasn't sure I could bring myself to leave. I wasn't sure I even _wanted_ to.

_What about your long-time goals?_ a sneaky, conniving little snarl whispered from behind my ADHD mental barrier, in the Land of Things I'd Really Rather Not Think About.

"I'll manage," I murmured in response, only realizing a heartbeat later that I'd spoken out loud. Again. "Thought I broke myself of that," I grumbled cheerfully to Rolith when he made an inquiring noise.

"You do it more often than you think you do," he admonished halfheartedly. "I don't see how you could ever get started with it."

"Just because you stoic types don't speak more than a word to yourselves, it doesn't mean the rest of us can't!"

"Temper, temper."

"I'll show you temper," I said under my breath. Shaking my head slightly, I peered up through the branches above My Limb, gauging how much weight some of them would be able to take.

I was known back home for making snap decisions that weren't exactly wise. Time and time again here, I had proven that I had a special skill for that.

"Meet you on the ground," I notified Rolith, warily rising to my feet on My Limb. My balance was good. My flexibility was far better. Wrapping my hands around a higher up branch that was about at the level of my collarbone, I hoisted myself up to sit with both legs over one side.

"What do you mean?" he asked in confusion, twisting awkwardly to try and see what I was doing.

"I mean," I grunted as I reached up for another handhold before rising to my feet again, "That I'll see you on the ground." I could almost feel his clueless glance as he gracelessly tried a controlled drop to the grass beneath this huge oak, and elaborated. "I'll likely fall at some point," I continued. "And then I'll wind up on the ground, probably on my back, and you'll come say hi."

"Or 'I told you so' might work just as well," he replied audaciously. I paused for a moment, bent over a slimmer limb that was about the diameter of my thigh.

"… I'm going to introduce you to my fist soon."

"Nah, it's not my type."

"Then how about my foot?"

"Not me. I'm a single guy," he called up from where he had successfully risen to his feet again. "What about you? Interested in either fists or feet?"

"Nope," I retorted, popping my 'P.' "I'm more for the kind of guy with longish black hair." There was a loaded pause.

"Oh really?" A bit strange, really, his tone of voice. I decided to goad him a bit further as I climbed.

"Oh yeah!" I continued, carefully placing the ball of my left foot on a thin branch that looked no thicker than my fist. Glancing down, I saw that the horses looked about as big as my thumb from up here. "And super muscular, too! Long legs, and an angled face with wide cheeks!" Daring a quick look down at Rolith, I didn't need to see his expression from the silence that radiated upwards. It appeared another hint was needed. "Kind of long in the body," I added hopefully. "Hair has to be super shiny. Really fast, too, and can carry another person easily." Still nothing. I mentally slammed my face against the tree trunk.

"In the name of all that's holy, Rolith, I'm talking about your horse!" I eventually burst out, glaring at him from my chosen perch, roughly four meters shy of the very top of the tree. With my hand at arm's length, from up here the Captain appeared to be only the size of my thumbnail.

Oh yeah. This would be a really bad place to fall from.

"Oh," I heard him say. Everything must have just become clear to him. Took him long enough, in my opinion, and I was normally the oblivious one.

"Yeah," I teased, "Oh." Looking around from my vantage point, I couldn't help but feel just a little bit homesick again. Anthony would have loved it up here. He was one of the reasons I had gotten to be as good as I was at climbing trees, and he liked being up high. I lifted my face to the sun, and a breeze that promised rain and lightning swept my bangs out of my face the way I had always been unable to. I tossed my braid back over my shoulder, wondering what it would be like to fly, when the implications of that stirring of the wind caught up to me.

"Uh oh."

"That never means anything good," Rolith commented from what must have been twenty meters below me.

"Um, it looks like we might get rain," I responded cheerfully, shifting my balance a hair forward to grin down at him. I saw him look at the sky all around us—and very obviously, might I add—and back at me.

"There's not a cloud in the sky," he stated as I cautiously tested my weight on the branch below the one I had been sitting in up until ten seconds ago.

"Trust me," I told him factually as I descended another three feet, "There will be rain. Lots of rain, and wind, and lightning, and all that happy stuff that you want to stay out of, no matter how much you like to dance in the precipitation."

"Very eloquent," Rolith approved as the balls of my feet slowly lowered down to another branch. Only 17 meters to go. "I wouldn't advise you to use big words, though—they tend to just confuse you."

"Hypocrite," I sniffed. "Anyway, my point is, I'm telling you, in the next four to twelve hours, there's gonna be a storm. A big one. We'll want everybody in the walls." All bantering aside, I knew Rolith would take things I said without hesitation seriously. Whether he acted on them was up to him, but he would take them into account. He cared what those under him thought, and did his best to placate all of them. It was just one of many things that made him a great and charismatic leader. It was getting easier to climb down, though, because the branches were getting thicker and less likely to break. Another two branches down, I turned my head over my shoulder to listen as he called up once more.

"There's a sturdy limb about a foot from your left ankle and half a meter down," he advised. Glancing down, I saw he was right. It would be the next logical place to descend to, and it saved me trouble having to twist around looking for the next handhold.

"Tha—_whooah!_"

Twig. Leaves. Spin off a smaller limb. More leaves. _Thud._

I just lay where I was on my back for several moments, collecting my thoughts and pulling air back into my lungs. Apparently, I'd lost my grip trying to step to the branch Rolith had indicated, and had fallen the remaining few yards to the ground. I blinked several times, getting my head back into order. Those tiny little shelves and cabinets that held all the information in my brain appeared to have been knocked rather askew. A golden head of hair entered my vision, and I blinked at it curiously. I didn't remember Rolith being that tall. Why, I must have only measured up to his knee! I thought I was taller than that!

"I'd ask if you're okay, but you're looking at me like I just sprouted horns, so I'm assuming you're fine," he said with a slight wince. "Sorry bout that." His gloved right hand came into view, all fingers outstretched. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

"….. Eight."

"Yeah, close enough. You're fine." With a quick grin, he extended the same hand to pull me up off my back. I gratefully accepted it, rocking slightly once I was back on my feet.

"Told—" I coughed slightly past a bit of a dry throat. Getting the wind knocked out of you tended to do that. "Told you I'd meet you on the ground."

Rolith started laughing—that deep, fuller, rumbling laughter that I swore would make an avalanche jealous. In reflex to the sound, I felt a grin starting to curve my lips, and watched as the light in his eyes shifted and changed a bit, becoming brighter and more vibrant. Not just an olive green ringed with copper, as it had been, but more of a fuzzy coffee color around the edges, blending into a mix of fern green and Kelly green. It was a lovely blend.

"You have pretty eyes," I blurted unthinkingly as I leaned over Tessa's neck. Wait, I didn't even remember mounting… oh well. It happened, and it wasn't anything particularly important. I grinned lazily at Rolith as he walked his bay up to Tessa and me. "Tess thinks so too," I added, nodding enthusiastically, "Don't we, Tess?" The dappled gray chose that moment to toss her head slightly, then turned her head over to snuffle the muzzle of Rolith's bay.

"Maybe I should lead Tessa and you should just hang on," he said in amusement. Had I been less in la-la-land, I probably would have noticed the faint veil of worry that he seemed to be hiding rather well. I nodded vigorously in response to his suggestion.

"Yup. Yup yup yup!"

"That's it, you're seeing Junn as soon as we get back," he muttered under his breath.

"I used to want bunnies for pets, yanno," I chirped rather cheerfully as I gripped the saddle horn with both hands. My head felt very fuzzy. "Then I found out most farms keep them so they can get eaten. Anthony and I didn't want bunnies after that," I stated solemnly. I never noticed the incredulous looks I was getting. "My head's all whirligigged. I don't know what it means, but it fits this situation perfectly. Yup."

The walls of the Keep came into sight around the bend from the grassy stretch by the cliff edge, and I glared at the huge gates. They seemed to have added another door while we were gone. The knights sure worked fast!

"There you are!" I said accusingly, pointing at that third door. "Where have you been hiding? Why did they only put you up now? Bad door." The whole idea of the door being ashamed of itself seemed immensely funny somehow, and I started giggling uncontrollably. I looked with interest as Rolith said something to one of the knights just inside the gates—why did they only open one of the doors?—and dismounted once they had closed behind us.

"Calliope, come on, we're gonna see Sir Junn," he said with an emotionless face, reaching up with both hands. A lopsided smile on my face, I let myself slip sideways into his waiting arms. Seemed like the practical thing to do. Chivalry wasn't dead after all! I decided to aim one last parting shot at the third door as we passed it.

"Bad door," I repeated firmly.

"Come on, come on, the door will still be there later," Rolith muttered quickly, ushering me past the doors faster than I was capable of walking right then.

"I'll have a serious talk with you later," I said with a final scowl at the third door. Then I paused. Technically, it wasn't the door's fault, right? Right. It was the knights' fault for not having put the door up sooner! Randomly, I felt remarkably similar to the time I'd gotten very, very buzzed with Andy and my friend Rachel and went cattle tipping.

"Why didn't you put that poor door up sooner?" I scolded Sir Junn as Rolith propelled me over to him. "I've been mad at that third door all this time and none of you even bothered to tell me it wasn't the door's fault!"

Sir Junn blinked twice, then looked to Rolith for an explanation while I rambled on.

"She fell out of a tree from about ten yards up, and probably hit her head on a branch on the way down. Or when she landed."

"Ah."

"… So I got mad at Andy cause I don't like people touching my stuff, and he… he touched. Then I had to go and…"

"Ten yards, you say?"

"… But they all just ignored it, and…"

"About. Starting thinking there was a third door to the Keep when we rounded the bend."

"… I mean, what was I supposed to do? I couldn't come up with a snap excuse…"

"And she's been like this the entire time?"

"… so I told Mum that Andy tied him_self_ to the rafters…"

"She was a bit quiet for the first minute or so, completely conscious, then started babbling. Not too different from her usual self, actually, but she's focusing even worse than usual."

"… but then when we lit the match, stupid Andy dropped it on the jar ahead of time…"

"She might have a slight concussion…"

"… and _BOOM._ But then Mum came outside…"

"I didn't notice."

"… So after that, it was matches and torches at ten paces!" I held out one hand with all five fingers extended to show what I meant. "Yup. Ten paces. Can you believe it?" I complained as the Captain sat me down on a vacant bed none too gently.

"She'll need to stay here for at least a week," Sir Junn said finally, and that line penetrated my errant thoughts.

"Waiwaiwait, a week?! Why am I stuck in here for a week?" I demanded, trying to get back up again immediately before being pushed down by Rolith. "I need to give those building knights a talking-to! That poor door didn't do anything wrong! Actually, neither did the narwhals, but they got eaten anyway!"

Sir Junn's eyes lifted up to catch Rolith's. "Narwhals?" he asked the Captain dryly.

"No idea."

* * *

I woke up the next morning staring at a bunch of rather unfamiliar rafters. My head felt like it had been split open by an axe or something, but Mother Nature was taking mercy on me, it seemed, by preventing any sunlight streaming through the windows to worsen my headache. The rain outside would have pierced a man's shield with how hard it was coming down.

With a short huff, I used my (somewhat sore) arms to push myself up into a semi-reclining position, and looked around. Using my brilliant deduction skills that I've already proven many times, I discovered that I was lying in a bed in the infirmary. I blinked several times, then blew my bangs out of my eyes.

"After we determined that you didn't have a concussion yesterday," a familiar voice said calmly, "We allowed you to sleep. You were out like a light." I craned my head up and to the left to see Sir Junn walking towards me.

"Recap me on what happened?" I pleaded dully. "I remember I was sitting in a tree with Rolith…" _Rolith and Callie, sitting in a tree! Does she like him? Yes indeed!_

"From what he said, you climbed the tree, and were climbing down when you fell," he stated. "Is that all you remember?"

"Um… yep. Should I remember anything else?"

Junn's lips twisted in an amused smile. "I'll let Captain Rolith fill you in on the rest when he comes back." I nodded mechanically, before halting as I realized something.

"Wait—comes _back_? He was here already?"

"Yes," Junn said with a nod as he pointed at my bedside table. "He left this last time." He strode off to check on another patient, and I curiously glanced over to see what Rolith had left.

There was a shiny red apple sitting on the clean wooden surface.

* * *

**Hello, freaky darlings. And yes, that is what I generally call my readers, if you haven't made that conclusion by now. :) **

**Can you believe that, with this chapter, we hit 100 pages on the official file on my laptop? :D I dunno about you guys, but I'm seriously thrilled by that! It means (to me, at least) that **_**Golden Touch**_** is growing its own little legs to stand on. I'm no longer the one in control of what happens in the story by now. That whole quote about the characters write the story, we just try to keep up? We're at that point. **

**And yes, I do still sit down to tea with Satan from time to time, as a writer. **

**I typed this entire chapter up in around two days (for which I am immensely proud). I was sorely tempted (_very_ sorely) to have Anthony come prancing in around the time Calliope found herself at the top of the tree, but it would have opened an entirely new can of worms that I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with. Plus, Anthony would have pulled the whole "big brother" act and interrogated Rolith while Calliope wasn't around. Also, the whole, "Hi, I just stopped by for a visit!" spiel at Oaklore? Yeah. That's not gonna fly well. **

**But anyway. Reviews!**

**Luna (anon.):** _The whole "outsider's view" is precisely why I chose Magiya to uncover a few more facets of Calliope's personality. :) I honestly can't wait to see what you come up with! Personally, when I create characters, I find it difficult to identify facial features. :) I'm super excited to see what you think Magiya looks like.  
Bahahaha! Your reaction to the ending of the last chapter just made my day! Oh my god, have I accidentally started a fandom?! I'm terrified now.  
... And now my mum's giving me odd looks because I'm laughing so hard. Besides, there's no such thing as spending too much time on Tumblr... *uber long dramatic pause*_

**MusicalPoetess: **_You'll get used to it eventually, trust me. :) But don't come to expect it- that way, it's always a pleasant surprise. And I wouldn't be surprised if you two click. xD You seem to have similar personalities when it comes to your fandoms.  
__Hope your group trip went well! :)_

**Next chapter, I'm planning for things to get a little more up-and-running, as far as the actual plot is concerned. I'll let you puzzle that out. **

**Hope you guys liked the chapter (and congrats if you caught the reference to the apple when she wakes up at the end). :3 See you all in two weeks, assuming life doesn't strike again! Love you guys!**

**Juliet**


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